{{other people|Philip Hubbard}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Short description|British writer (1910–1980)}} '''Philip Maitland Hubbard''' (9 November 1910 – 17 March 1980) was a British writer. He was known principally for his [[crime]] and [[suspense]] novels and stories, although he wrote in other genres as well, contributing short stories and poetry to ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction]]'' and articles, verse, and parliamentary reports for [[Punch (magazine)|Punch]].
==Early life== Hubbard was born in [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], England,<ref name=worlds>{{cite web|url=http://www.mysteryfile.com/Hubbard/Worlds.html|title=The Worlds of P. M. Hubbard - Tom Jenkins & Wyatt James.|website=www.mysteryfile.com|accessdate=2 November 2018}}</ref> the second son of Wilton Hubbard, a stockbroker, and his wife Millicent, who had been born in [[Mumbai|Bombay]]. His grandfather, Henry Dickenson Hubbard (1824–1913), was a [[clergy]]man of the [[Church of England]] who left a substantial fortune. Hubbard was brought up mostly in [[Guernsey]] in the [[Channel Islands]], where his father had gone to improve his health, and was educated at [[Elizabeth College (Guernsey)|Elizabeth College, Guernsey]], then at [[Jesus College, Oxford]], where in 1933 he won the [[Newdigate Prize]] for [[poetry]]<ref name=Times/> with a poem called "Ovid among the Goths".<ref>Philip Maitland Hubbard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=jUzyjgEACAAJ Ovid among the Goths: the Newdigate prize poem, 1933] (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1933, 15 pages): title at books.google.co.uk</ref>
==Life== On 3 October 1934, by Open Competition, Hubbard joined the [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|Indian Civil Service]]<ref>[[The London Gazette]], Issue 34103 dated 9 November 1934, [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34103/page/7162 p. 7162]</ref> and went on to become the last District Commissioner of the Punjab before [[History of the Republic of India|Indian independence]] in 1947. After that, he worked for the [[British Council]] and then as Deputy Director of the National Union of Manufacturers. From 1960 until his death he worked as a freelance writer.<ref name=Times/> Apart from novels, he also wrote articles for ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' and light verse.
On 7 October 1937, Hubbard married Eleanor Onyx Slingsby Todd at the Church of St James, Delhi. After returning to England, he and his wife settled at Horsehill Cottage, [[Stoke Abbott]], near [[Beaminster]], [[Dorset]], where they lived with their three children, Jane, Caroline and Peter. Some years later he separated from his wife, and in 1973 he moved to south-west Scotland.<ref name=worlds/>
P. M. Hubbard's main output was sixteen full-length [[novels]] for adults.<ref name=Times/> These are typically suspense stories which have their settings in the countryside or on the coast of England or Scotland,<ref name=Times/> although one, ''The Country of Again'', is set mainly in [[Pakistan]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Custom of the Country |url=https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/p-m-hubbard/custom-of-country.htm |website=Fantastic Fiction |access-date=5 June 2023}}</ref> Most of the novels feature a male protagonist (although in some, such as ''Flush as May'' and ''The Quiet River'', the protagonist is a woman) and characters who in general are educated, articulate, and essentially amoral.<ref>{{cite web |last1=James |first1=Wyatt |title=The Novels of P.M. Hubbard |url=https://mysteryfile.com/Hubbard/Worlds.html |website=Mystery*File |publisher=Steve Lewis |access-date=5 June 2023}}</ref> They draw extensively on one or more of the author's interests and preoccupations, including country sports, small-boat [[sailing]], [[folk religion]], and the works of [[William Shakespeare]].<ref name="Mystery*File">{{cite web |last1=Jenkins |first1=Tom |title=The Power of Place |url=https://mysteryfile.com/Hubbard/Worlds.html |website=Mystery*File |publisher=Steve Lewis |access-date=10 February 2024}}</ref>
Hubbard's novel ''High Tide'' was adapted for television and broadcast in 1980 as part of the British [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] network's "[[Armchair Thriller]]" series.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Nick |title=High Tide by P. M. Hubbard (Macmillan, 1971): First Edition, Book Review |url=https://www.existentialennui.com/2014/05/high-tide-by-p-m-hubbard-macmillan-1971.html |website=Existential Ennui |access-date=5 June 2023}}</ref>
Hubbard was described in his obituary in ''[[The Times]]'' as a "most imaginative and distinguished practitioner", writing with an "assurance and individuality of style and tone." He died on 17 March 1980 in Newton Stewart, Galloway.<ref name=Times>{{cite news|date=19 March 1980|page=16|work=[[The Times]]|title=Mr. P. M. Hubbard}}</ref>
== Bibliography ==
===Adult suspense novels=== <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/search?q=P.+M.+Hubbard+++novels|title=P. M. Hubbard novels - Google Search|website=www.google.com|accessdate=2 November 2018}}</ref>
*''Flush as May'' (1963) *''Picture of Millie'' (1964) *''A Hive of Glass'' (1966) *''The Holm Oaks'' (1966) *''The Tower'' (1968) *''The Custom of the Country'' (as ''The Country of Again'' in US) (1969) *''Cold Waters'' (1969) *''High Tide'' (1971) *''The Dancing Man'' (1971) *''A Whisper in the Glen'' (1972) *''A Rooted Sorrow'' (1973) *''A Thirsty Evil'' (1974) *''The Graveyard''(1975) *''The Causeway'' (1976) *''The Quiet River'' (1978) *''Kill Claudio'' (1979)
===Novels written for children===
*''Anna Highbury'' (1963)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=19748463225&searchurl=kn=%2522Anna+Highbury%2522&sortby=17&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-image1|title=Anna Highbury by Hubbard, P.M: Cassell & Company Ltd, London Hardcover, 1st Edition - Q's Books|website=www.abebooks.com|accessdate=2 November 2018}}</ref> *''Rat Trap Island'' (1964)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Rat-Trap-Island-P-M-Hubbard/dp/B0000CMA1W|title=Rat Trap Island|first=P. M.|last=HUBBARD|date=2 November 1964|publisher=Children's Book Club|accessdate=2 November 2018|via=Amazon}}</ref>
===Short stories=== * ''Ioan and the Tabriskas'' (1971)
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== *[http://www.authorandbookinfo.com/ngcoba/hu1.htm ''New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors'']
==External links== *{{isfdb name|id=P._M._Hubbard|name=P. M. Hubbard}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubbard, Philip}} [[Category:1910 births]] [[Category:1980 deaths]] [[Category:English crime fiction writers]] [[Category:People educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey]] [[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford]] [[Category:20th-century English novelists]] [[Category:20th-century English poets]]