Windback Wednesday - Edith Agnes Hübbe

Edith Agnes Hübbe (1859-1942), born Edith Agnes Cook, was a pioneering teacher and the principal of Knightsbridge School in Leabrook.

In 1876, Edith became the University of Adelaide’s first female student, studying Latin, Botany, and Physiology.

Edith’s career in education began in 1879 when she took on the role of Deputy at the Advanced School for Girls on Franklin Street. At just 21, she was promoted to Head of the School in 1880, after receiving an exemption from the regulation that required school heads to be at least 25-years-old.

In 1885, Edith’s sister Harriet founded Knightsbridge School in what is now Leabrook. The school moved to Edith’s home on Statenborough Street in 1886, where the sisters ran the school together until 1921. The school produced many successful and notable alumni, including the pioneering modern artist Dorothea Foster ‘Dorrit’ Black.

Hubbe Court and the accompanying Hubbe Court Reserve are both named in commemoration of Edith.

Photo: Portrait of Edith Agnes Hübbe, approximately 1885, State Library of South Australia, PRG 1415/35/5/11.