Hubert, Sir Francis

(?1568 or ?1569-1629)

   Although the information about this poet is scant, it can be gleaned that he was the son of Edward Hubert, a law clerk in London, and that he himself was a clerk in the chancery in 1601. His burial is recorded at St. Andrew's, Church, Holborn, on 13 December 1629. In 1629 he wrote The Historie of Edward the Second, Surnamed Carnarvon, One of Our English Kings: Together with the Fatall Downfall of His Two Vnfortunate Favorites, Gaveston and Spencer. The poem was completed during the reign of Elizabeth, but permission to print it was refused, on account of Hubert's treatment of the king's favorites. A rogue edition appeared in 1628; the authentic edition followed in 1629, with other editions in 1631 and 1721, with a portrait of the author. His Egypt's Favorite. The Historie of Joseph, Divided into Foure Parts-Together with Old Israels Progresse into the Land of Goshen was published in 1631. Some of his poems: "Jacobs Progresse," "The Chaste Covrtier," "The Innocent Prisoner," "The Life and Death of Edvvard the Second," "The Noble Favourite," "The Unfortunate Brother."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The New Oxford Book of Seventeenth Century Verse. Alastair Fowler, ed. Oxford University Press, 1991.