Arthur Benison Hubback (13 April 1871 – 8 May 1948) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and architect who designed several important buildings in

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British Empire, British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. Unlike the ...

, in both

Indo-Saracenic architecture Indo-Saracenic architecture (also known as Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal) was a Revivalism (architecture), revivalist architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and gov ...

and European " Wrenaissance" styles. Major works credited to him include Kuala Lumpur railway station, Ubudiah Mosque,

Jamek Mosque Jamek Mosque, officially Sultan Abdul Samad Jamek Mosque () is one of the oldest mosques in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is located at the confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers and may be accessed via Jalan Tun Perak. The mosque was desi ...

National Textile Museum The National Textile Museum () is a museum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The museum is open daily from 9am to 6pm, with admission fees ranging from Malaysian ringgit, RM2 to RM5. It is adjacent to the Sultan Abdul Samad Building. History Designed ...

Panggung Bandaraya DBKL Panggung Bandaraya DBKL ( Malay for ''DBKL City Theatre'') is a historical theatre hall located across the Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at the junction of Jalan Tun Perak and Jalan Raja. Construction began in 1896 and was complete ...

, Ipoh railway station, and Kowloon railway station. After an English training in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, he arrived in Malaya in 1895, and by 1900 was appointed chief government architect of the British-run

Federated Malay States The Federated Malay States (FMS, , Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of four protectorate, protected states in the Malay Peninsula — Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang — established in 1895 by the British government, and whi ...

, returning to Britain in 1914 at the start of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, though he did not officially resign until 1917. Reversing the pattern of many British architects of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

in India, he was an architect who became a soldier, commanding troops in France, and remaining in the army until his retirement in 1924. He was active in sports, especially

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. Hubback was promoted to brigadier general during his career in the British army.

Early life

Arthur Hubback was born at 74 Rodney Street, Liverpool, England, son of Joseph Hubback (1814–1882), who was

Mayor of Liverpool From 2012 to 2023, the mayor of Liverpool was the executive mayor of the city of Liverpool in England. The office was abolished in 2023 and its functions were replaced with the leader of Liverpool City Council. The mayor of Liverpool was previ ...

in 1870 and a merchant, and Georgina Hubback (née Benison and widow of Captain Allan Eliott Lockhart). Arthur attended Fettes College, Edinburgh, and then started work as an apprentice for the city architect in Liverpool, Thomas Shelmerdine.

Career in architecture

In 1895, Hubback became chief draughtsman of

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

public works department, which was then working on the building of government offices now known as

Sultan Abdul Samad Building The Sultan Abdul Samad Building (Malaysian Malay, Malay: ''Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad''; Jawi script, Jawi: ) is a late-19th century building located along Jalan Raja in front of Independence Square (Kuala Lumpur), Dataran Merdeka and the Roya ...

. The Sultan Abdul Samad Building was originally designed by A.C. Norman and R. A. J. Bidwell in a Classic Renaissance style, but Norman's plan was then reworked on by Bidwell in an

Indo-Saracenic Indo-Saracenic architecture (also known as Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal) was a Revivalism (architecture), revivalist architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and gov ...

Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...

style. After Bidwell left, Hubback also worked on the building. After the building was completed in 1897, he worked in private practice for a few years, before returning to public work in 1901. Ubudiah masjid KK

From then until the outbreak of World War I was a period of great construction projects, and he worked on buildings in Malaya and Hong Kong, from mosques to railway stations. An important work designed by Hubback is the Kuala Lumpur railway station. Among other major works he designed are the

, Kowloon railway station, and Ipoh railway station. He designed at least 25 buildings in Malaya, and many of these are now considered an important part of the architectural heritage of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Masjid-Jamek-03

He returned to England in 1914 and did not design any further buildings in Malaya, although some of his buildings were not completed until later.

Military service

Hubback took charge of the Federated Malay States Volunteer Rifles (M.S.V.R.) in 1907. He was appointed as a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the M.S.V.R. in 1910 and he was in command of the Federated Malay States Contingent to

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

's coronation in 1911. He was then promoted to lieutenant colonel in the M.S.V.R. in 1912. In 1914, at the start of

, he became a major in the 19th Battalion, London Regiment (St Pancras), a

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry in ...

(TF) unit. In 1915, he was the lieutenant colonel commanding the 20th Battalion, London Regiment (Blackheath and Woolwich) (TF), in

47th (1/2nd London) Division The 47th (1/2nd London) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. Formation The Territorial Force (TF) was formed on 1 April 1908 following the enactment of the Territorial and Res ...

of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. He commanded the 20th Bn at the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used Chemical weapons in World War I, ...

, in which it captured the Chalk Pit, and Hubback had to take over command of 19th Bn as well. He was promoted to Brigadier-General in command of 2nd Brigade in 1st Division on 10 March 1916, and was wounded on the First day on the Somme. He returned to command 118th Brigade of 39th Division on 3 April 1918. The division had suffered so badly during the

German spring offensive The German spring offensive, also known as ''Kaiserschlacht'' ("Kaiser's Battle") or the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German Empire, German attacks along the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First Wor ...

of March that it had been reduced to a single composite brigade, which Hubback commanded during the Battle of the Lys. Afterwards the division was reduced to a training organisation, and Hubback acted as divisional commander from 31 August to 10 September.Maj A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 3b: New Army Divisions (30–41) and 63rd (R.N.) Division'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1939/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-41-X, pp. 91–3. On 21 October he transferred to 63rd Brigade in 37th Division and commanded it during the final battles of the war. During the war he was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

six times, was awarded a Companionship of the Order of St Michael and St George, and won the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

. AfterF the war he continued in the Territorial Army, commanding the 5th London Brigade from 1920 to 1924. He then retired, but attempted to rejoin at the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was turned down due to his age. He ran instead the Soldiers', Sailors' and Airmen's Family Association in Hertfordshire to look after the families of the armed forces.

Family

Hubback married Margaret Rose Frances (Daisy) Voules, the sister of a colleague, in 1901 and they had two children, a son ( Arthur Gordon Voules Hubback, R.N.) and a daughter (Yvonne Hubback). He had two brothers. Theodore Rathbone Hubback joined Arthur in Malaya, and was a civil engineer and contractor, as well as working for a while as a rubber planter, and after early adventures as a big game hunter became a conservationist and author. George Clay Hubback was bishop of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

and of

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. He died in

Broxbourne Broxbourne is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, England, with a population of 15,303 at the 2011 Census.Broxbourne Town population 2011 It is located to the south of Hoddesdon and to the north of Cheshunt, north of London. ...

, Hertfordshire, on 8 May 1948 of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

Buildings

Hubback worked on the following buildings: * (1894–1897) ** Federal Secretariat (

), ground plan based on A. C. Norman's design with elevations by R. A. J. Bidwell. Hubback contributed to the design and also designed the fixtures of the building. * 1901 ** Carcosa Seri Negara, Kuala Lumpur (also credited to A.C. Norman) * 1904 ** Municipal Office & Town Hall, Kuala Lumpur (Sanitary Board/Town Hall) * 1905 ** F.M.S Central Railways Offices, Kuala Lumpur (currently

) ** Shop Houses on Old Market Square, Kuala Lumpur * 1906 ** Residence of High Commissioner, Kuala Kangsar ** Selangor Museum, Kuala Lumpur (Rebuilt, now the

National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...

) * 1907 ** F.M.S Railways Terminal Office, Penang (Wisma Kastam – Malayan Railway Building) ** General Post Office, Kuala Lumpur *1909 **

, Kuala Lumpur ** The Big School Malay College, Kuala Kangsar (

Malay College Kuala Kangsar The Malay College Kuala Kangsar (abbreviated MCKK; ; ) is a residential school in Malaysia. It is an all-boys and all- Malay school in the royal town of Kuala Kangsar, Perak. It is sometimes dubbed "the Eton College of the East". The Malay Col ...

) ** The White House of Klang (The Sultan Abdul Aziz Royal Gallery) *1910 ** Andersons Boy School, Ipoh ** Railway Station & Hotel, Kuala Lumpur ** Selangor Club 1910, Kuala Lumpur ( Royal Selangor Club) ** Federal Survey Office, Kuala Lumpur KCR 1914

*1911 ** Federal Lunatic Asylum, Tanjung Rambutan, Ipoh (renamed Central Mental Hospital and subsequently renamed in 1970 Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta) ** The White House of Klang (The Sultan Abdul Aziz Royal Gallery) *1912 ** British Residency, Seremban (Kompleks Kraf Negeri Sembilan andicraft Centre ** Preparatory School,

(MCKK) – Prep School, Kuala Kangsar, Perak * 1913 ** Kowloon railway station, Hong Kong (Demolished in 1977, only the

Clock Tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

remains)

* 1914 ** Selangor Museum (Extension & alteration) Kuala Lumpur * 1915 **

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, Kuala Lumpur (Kuala Lumpur High Court) * 1916 ** Town Hall and Post Office, Ipoh * 1917 ** Idris Memorial Mosque, Kuala Kangsar ( Ubudiah Mosque) ** Malay Railway Administration Building, Kuala Lumpur Ipoh railway station *1920 ** Railway Station & Hotel, Ipoh ( Ipoh railway station) ''Source Included From: A.B Hubback: An Architectural Celebration in Malaya Exhibition. Located at National Textile Museum, Kuala Lumpur.''
''Jointly Organized by PAM Heritage Conservation Committee, Department of Museums Malaysia and National Textile Museum'' ''Officially Supported by Masjid Jamek, British Council, Arch, webmaster of thehubbacks.org, midor, ALFO, MIBOUTIQUE and Kuala Lumpur.''

Significance of Hubback’s work

Hubback’s architectural work is rooted in 19th-century eclectic historicism. One style of his architecture may be known as

, which is a blend of Mughal forms with

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

, Romanesque, and Gothic details. The first major work Hubback was involved in, the

, is in this style. It was largely the work by R. A. J. Bidwell following the design direction set by the State Engineer Charles Edwin Spooner, and Hubback made additions and alterations to the building under Spooner's instructions. This strand of English colonial architecture was based on Indian Islamic architecture and not native to Malaya. Hubback and Bidwell effectively introduced into the Malaysian architectural vocabulary the onion dome. The Federal Secretariat/Sultan Abdul Samad Building formed the perimeter of the Padang or Merdeka Square is as much a part of the architectural consciousness of Malaysia as the Houses of Parliament is to Britain. Many of his buildings, such as the Railway Station and Jamek Mosque, are landmarks in Kuala Lumpur. The twentieth-century quality of his architectural output is that he created a number of large buildings to house the colonial government's administrative functions, an architectural recognition of the increasing spatial demands of an official bureaucracy, but in elegant dress. While in post-independence Malaysia these functions have moved elsewhere, these buildings remain as a potent visual symbol of the country.

Honours

* 1905 Associate of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

* 1909 Fellow of the

* 1913 Honorary Diocesan Architect for the Diocese of Singapore * 1916 Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

* 1918

Sports

Hubback was an active sportsman who played the following sport:A.B. Hubback: An Architectural Celebration in Malaya Exhibition. Located at National Textile Museum, Kuala Lumpur. "The Life and Time of A.B. Hubback", 17 May 2014, 9.30am–12pm. Dialogue with Dr. Peter Barbor (Grandson of A.B. Hubback), Mr. Llyod Gan (webmaster of thehubbacks.org) & Ar. Rosli Mohd Ali (PAM Heritage Conservation Committee). * 2 June 1894 – Played cricket for Liverpool in the Liverpool vs. Birkenhead Park match, Aigburth Liverpool. * 9 September 1896 – Made his first century in cricket * 4 February 1897 – Played cricket in Selangor vs. Singapore match. * 24–25 October 1897 – Took leave to play for the Straits Settlements Cricket Team in a Cricket Festival in Hong Kong. * 8 November 1897 – Played in the Interport matches: 1897/98 Hong Kong and Shanghai vs. Straits Settlements, Hong Kong Cricket Club Ground, Hong Kong * 14 November 1897 – Played in the Interport matches: 1897/98 Hong Kong and Shanghai vs. Straits Settlements, Hong Kong Cricket Club Ground, Hong Kong. * November 1899 – Represented F.M.S in a cricket match in Burma. * 4 February 1905 – Played in Straits Settlements in F.M.S cricket match, F.M.S vs. Straits Settlements at the Padang Kuala Lumpur. * 1906– Captained the F.M.S team in a cricket match in Burma * 16 August 1906 – Cricket match, F.M.S in Straits in Straits Settlements 1906, Straits Settlement vs. Federated Malay States at the Padang, Singapore. * 30 March 1907 – Played in Straits Settlements in Federated Malay States 1906/07 * 5 August 1907 – Played in F.M.S in Straits Settlements 1907 cricket match, Straits Settlements vs. F.M.S at Penang Cricket Club Ground, Penang. * 31 July 1908 – Played in F.M.S inStraits Settlements cricket match 1908, Straits Settlements vs. Federated Malay States, The Pedang, Singapore. * 30 January 1911 – Played in Straits Settlements in Federated Malay States cricket match 1910/11, F.M.S vs. Straits Settlements, The Pedang Kuala Lumpur.

References

External links

Photographs in the National Portrait Gallery, London

Hubback brothers tribute website

Arthur Benison Hubback
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubback, Arthur Benison 1948 deaths 1871 births 20th-century English architects People educated at Fettes College Architects from Liverpool London Regiment officers British Army brigadiers British colonial army officers Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Malaysian architects British Army generals of World War I Military personnel from Liverpool