Ulrich Hübbe


Ulrich Hübbe LL.D. was a German immigrant to South Australia, remembered for his part in framing the Real Property Act, which led to the Torrens title system of land registration.

History

Dr. Hübbe was born in Hamburg in 1805, the third son of Heinrich Hübbe, and was educated at the Johanneum Gymnasium before studying law at Jena, Berlin, and the University of Kiel, where he was awarded his LL.D.
He arrived in South Australia aboard the Taglioni, 350 tons, from London in October 1842, and for a time worked for the South Australian Register before being involved as a land agent.
The system of land title deeds which existed from the foundation of South Australia, as inherited from the Britain, was complex, open to abuse and disliked by both land agents and landowners, and seemed to have few supporters apart from traditionalists and lawyers. Suggestions for centralized registration of property were made in the earliest days after Proclamation by such as James Hurtle Fisher. Dr. Hübbe, who had personal experience with both the German system and the British, was one among many who wrote to the papers suggesting reform, but it was not until R. R. Torrens submitted his "Real Property Act" to the House of Assembly that any substantial effort towards reform was made.
Hübbe, who was away from Adelaide around this time, returned in 1856 to find Torrens's campaign in full swing, and wrote, as "Sincerus", to The Register supporting the Act and making light of the difficulties in its implementation. Torrens, who was under siege from some powerful interests, sought out Hübbe as an ally, no doubt with an eye to enlisting the support of the equally powerful German community. In support of Torrens's campaign, Hübbe wrote a booklet The Voice of Reason and History on Conveyancing, drawing on his knowledge of European law, particularly that inherited from Hanseatic League States, but also of France. The cost of printing and publishing was met by G. F. Angas.
Responding to commentators who claimed he was the unacknowledged father of the Real Property Act, Hübbe wrote:
... I modestly disclaim as a matter of fact the honour of having originated that Act,... I drew attention to the very objectionable features of the English mode of conveyancing, and to the honest, unsophisticated mode of transfer practised in Germany.... The facts pointed out and the ideas thus kindled in the minds of clear-sighted, practical men, who were afterwards seen in the front rank of the contest, were no doubt farther circulated,... Torrens first laid down his scheme of legal reform, formed his private committee; and prepared the public mind for the contemplated change by a series of telling articles in the public journals. Of all this I knew nothing, nor was I at that period known to Mr. Torrens; and on returning to Adelaide in 1856 I was perfectly surprised on finding the reform campaign in full operation, and the papers bristling with leading articles and letters on the subject, and the men of law on the heights of indignation — not then from any great apprehension of danger, but at the unprecedented boldness and comprehensiveness of Torrens' assault. Well may you say that his is a "master-mind." He perfectly understood the situation. He brought, besides his own intellectual powers, tact, and brilliant eloquence, the landowners, large and small, the commercial men. the tradesmen, and the intelligence of the South Australian people as a whole, to bear on the subject all at once, so as almost to overwhelm the opponents of reform. Perceiving, however, that he was likely to be outflanked by adroit opponents on some intricate points of permanent consequence both in the foundation and practical working of the new system, I ran, unasked by Mr. Torrens and unknown to him, into the breach. My letters signed ' Sincerus ' arrested Mr. Torrens' attention directly. He came to look for me in my humble abode in Freeman-street, and we have ever since been firmly allied. I and other Germans, led on by Beyer, Vosz, and many others, gave him what ever assistance we were able to contribute; and he, finding me well up in the judicial and historical aspects of the matter, encouraged me to write ' The Voice of Reason and History on Conveyancing', and he got Mr. G. F. Angas, in his own generous way, to bear the whole costs of publishing. I also lent Mr. Torrens some amount of industrious and persevering aid in privately discussing the principles of his first scheme, and I had a share — a very humble share — in re-settling the draft of the first Act before its second reading. I claim, therefore, no more than a share in this useful work, in which I have been — and am proud that I have been— an aider and abettor; but, as you will now see, I have not been its originator.... it were unjust to Sir Robert Torrens to withhold a single leaf of the crown of laurel which belongs to him, and to him alone, as the originator of his great Act. But if, under present circumstances, my fellow-colonists will allow me to advise them they will find me a thoroughly sound and expert, as well as firm, defender of the Act. Yours, &c., ULRICH HUBBE. L.L.D.

Ulrich and his wife lived with their teacher daughter Isabella from around 1875; at Spalding, then at White Hut. He was a deeply religious man of the Lutheran faith, and was blind for many years before his death, but having taught himself to read Moon type was able to console himself by reading the Gospels and Psalms. In the House of Assembly, in September 1884, E. W. Hawker moved, seconded by J. L. Stirling, that Hübbe be granted £200 in recognition of his contribution, given gratuitously, to Torrens's Act. One commentator called him "one of the most unselfish, un-businesslike, and gentle creatures that ever lived", and hoped that he would be better appreciated in an after-life.

Family

Ulrich Hübbe married Martha Gray in 1847.