The Tragic Story of Robert Hubert: The Man Who Was Hanged for Starting the Great Fire of London

The Strange tale of Robert Hubert—the man who didn’t start the Great Fire, but was hanged for it anyway.

The Great Fire of London, which raged from September 2 to 6, 1666, is remembered as one of the most catastrophic events in London’s history. The fire swept through large portions of London, destroying thousands of homes, landmarks, and churches, including St. Paul’s Cathedral. However, what’s less known is the story of Robert Hubert, the Frenchman who was falsely accused, convicted, and ultimately hanged for starting the blaze. His execution, often regarded as a grotesque miscarriage of justice, illustrates the dangers of scapegoating and the perils of a society in crisis.

The Great Fire: A City in Panic

The fire started innocuously enough in Thomas Farriner’s bakery on Pudding Lane. It wasn’t the first time a bakery fire had started a blaze in the overcrowded and flammable city, but this time, due to a combination of strong winds, wooden structures, and highly flammable materials in homes and shops, the fire quickly became uncontainable. Over the next four days, it tore through 13,200 homes, 87 churches, and numerous public buildings, leaving a massive part of London in ruins.

As the fire raged, a sense of dread spread among the population. Some speculated that the fire was no accident, that perhaps it had been deliberately started as an act of war or terrorism. The fire happened in the wake of England’s recent conflicts with France and the Dutch, which fed rumors of foreign sabotage.

Enter Robert Hubert: The Convenient Scapegoat

Amid this atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, there was a burning desire for someone to blame. Enter Robert Hubert, a French watchmaker from Rouen, born around 1640. Hubert was a foreigner, and more specifically, a French Catholic. Anti-Catholic sentiment was rife in Protestant.

Hubert was arrested not long after the fire had been put out. Under interrogation, he confessed to having thrown a fireball through the window of Farriner’s bakery to deliberately start the fire. But wait—there were problems with his confession right from the start. For a start, the bakery didn’t even have a window through which he could have thrown this imaginary fireball.

And what’s more, Hubert had not even been in London when the fire broke out.

Yes, you read that right! Robert Hubert was not even in London when the fire broke out. Historians have confirmed that Hubert, a 26-year-old French watchmaker, only arrived in England two days after the fire had already begun. This detail alone should have been enough to exonerate him, but as you’ll see, facts and reason were not on the side of Hubert—or anyone, really—in the chaotic days following the disaster.

So, why did he confess?

Did You Know Hubert’s Confession Was Likely Coerced?

Robert Hubert’s confession was riddled with inconsistencies, but authorities either didn’t notice or didn’t care. In all likelihood, Hubert was coerced into confessing, perhaps through intimidation or the promise of leniency. Others speculate that Hubert, who was believed to have been mentally unstable, might have been manipulated or confused by the interrogators. Historical records describe Hubert as being of “feeble mind”, suggesting he may have had some form of intellectual disability or mental illness that made him particularly vulnerable.

Hubert’s confession was quickly seized upon as the answer to London’s nightmare. The public, gripped by panic, was eager for justice, or at least the appearance of it. Hubert, a Catholic foreigner with a suspicious confession, was all they needed to feel that someone had been punished.

The Trial: A Farce of Justice

Hubert’s trial was little more than a formality. Despite glaring holes in his story, he was convicted of arson and sentenced to death. The fact that he couldn’t possibly have started the fire seemed irrelevant to those seeking retribution. Even Farriner, the baker whose shop had supposedly been the starting point of Hubert’s crime, testified that Hubert hadn’t been anywhere near the bakery at the time of the fire.

But by then, it was too late. The fire had caused so much destruction—burning four-fifths of the city’s core—that someone had to pay for the damage, and Hubert had been painted as the culprit. He was sentenced to death and hanged at Tyburn on October 28, 1666, just two months after the fire had ravaged London.

Hubert’s Death Didn’t Stop the Rumors?

Despite Hubert’s execution, suspicions and paranoia lingered. The fire had been too large, too destructive to have been the work of a single man. Even after Hubert’s hanging, rumors persisted that the fire was the result of a broader Catholic conspiracy, and tensions between Protestants and Catholics remained high for years to come. Ironically, many of London’s wealthier residents even blamed King Charles II, thinking he might have had a hand in starting the fire to seize land for new developments.

Hubert’s Legacy: A Cautionary Tale

Today, Robert Hubert’s story is seen as one of the most egregious examples of scapegoating in history. Over time, scholars and historians have pieced together the facts of the case, confirming that Hubert could not have been responsible for the fire. Many believe that he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time—an unfortunate foreigner who happened to fit the profile of a convenient villain during a period of national crisis.

In retrospect, Hubert’s execution is now viewed as a classic miscarriage of justice, a sobering reminder of how easily fear and desperation can warp the pursuit of truth. Hubert’s story also stands as a warning about the dangers of public hysteria, particularly when it comes to assigning blame in the wake of disasters.

So, who did start the Great Fire of London?

Despite extensive investigations, no one was ever conclusively found responsible for the Great Fire of London. Most historians today agree that the fire was an accident, likely the result of the carelessness of Thomas Farriner’s bakery, where embers from a poorly extinguished oven could have sparked the inferno. Nevertheless, in the frantic search for answers, it was Hubert who paid the ultimate price.

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