author

J. H. (John Henry) Hubback

b. 1844

Remembered as a family historian with a close Jane Austen connection, he wrote lively nonfiction that helped preserve the stories of Austen’s naval relatives. His work sits at the meeting point of biography, family memory, and literary history.

1 Audiobook

Jane Austen's sailor brothers : Being the adventures of Sir Francis Austen, G.C.B., Admiral of the Fleet and Rear-Admiral Charles Austen

Jane Austen's sailor brothers : Being the adventures of Sir Francis Austen, G.C.B., Admiral of the Fleet and Rear-Admiral Charles Austen

by J. H. (John Henry) Hubback, Edith C. (Edith Charlotte) Hubback

About the author

Born in 1844 and living until 1939, J. H. Hubback was a British author and translator. Records for his books identify him as John Henry Hubback, and library and family-history sources connect him to the Austen family through his mother, Catherine Anne Austen Hubback.

He is best known for Jane Austen’s Sailor Brothers, written with his daughter Edith C. Hubback and first published in 1906. The book explores the lives of Francis and Charles Austen, two of Jane Austen’s brothers, and has remained of interest to readers who enjoy Austen history and the wider world around her family.

Hubback also appears in library and public-domain records as a writer of travel and historical material, including a diary of his 1868 travels in New Zealand. While not as widely known as the Austens themselves, he helped pass along family knowledge that later readers and researchers have continued to use.