Hubert Bland

Hubert Bland (3 January 1855 – 14 April 1914) was an English author. He was known for being an infamous libertine, a journalist, an early English socialist, and one of the founders of the Fabian Society. He was the husband of Edith Nesbit.

Early life and early careers

Bland was born in Woolwich, south-east London, the youngest of the four children of Henry Bland, a successful commercial clerk, and his wife Mary Ann. He was baptised on 14 March 1855 at St Mary Magdalene, Woolwich.

He received his formal education in local schools.

As a young man, Bland, showed his "passion was for politics" by his "strong interest in the political ideas raised at social protest meetings."

Bland wanted to attend the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and become an army officer, but there was not enough money after his father's death, so he went to work as a bank clerk. Later, he went into a brush-making business that failed. After that, he worked as secretary to the General Hydraulic Power Company, parent company of the London Hydraulic Power Company.

Marriage and mistresses

In 1877, he met 19-year-old Edith Nesbit (1858–1924). They married on 22 April 1880 with Nesbit already seven months pregnant. They did not immediately live together as Bland initially continued to live with his mother. According to biographer, Julia Briggs,Bland continued to spend half of each week with his widowed mother and her paid companion, Maggie Doran,who also had a son by him, though Nesbit did not realize this until later that summer when Bland fell ill with smallpox. When, in 1880, Nesbit learned of her husband's affair with Maggie, she made friends with her.