Francis Constable

Francis Constable
Francis Constable
Born	1592; Datchet, Buckinghamshire, England
Died	1 August 1647; London, England
Occupation(s)	Bookseller and publisher
Years active	Early 17th century – 1647
Known for	Publishing numerous plays from the English Renaissance theatre during Jacobean and Caroline periods

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Francis Constable, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 11 August 2025

Francis Constable (1592 – 1 August 1647) was a prominent bookseller and publisher based in London during the Jacobean and Caroline periods, recognized for issuing numerous plays from the English Renaissance theatre.

Life and work

Baptized on 12 May 1592 in Datchet, Buckinghamshire, Francis Constable was the son of Robert Constable and Margery Barker, whose father Christopher Barker served as printer to Queen Elizabeth I. His older brother Robert began an apprenticeship in 1607 under their maternal uncle Robert Barker, the official printer to James I of England. It is probable that Francis undertook his own apprenticeship with this uncle, who was responsible for printing the first edition of the King James Bible in 1611. Francis attained full membership in the Stationers Company on 2 July 1614; his brother Robert joined later that same year in December.

Throughout his career, Constable operated independently from several London addresses: starting at the White Lion in St Paul's Churchyard between 1616 and 1624; then moving to the Crane in St. Paul's (1631); later "under St. Martin's Church" in Ludgate (1637); followed by King Street in Westminster at the Goat (1640); and finally at Westminster Hall also in 1640. While he may have held a stall there prior, 1640 marks its earliest appearance on his publications.

On occasion, Constable collaborated with notable publisher Humphrey Moseley and other stationers for particular projects. A Richard Constable, possibly a nephew, was active as a bookseller during the late 1640s.

Francis Constable passed away on 1 August 1647 and was interred at St Margaret, Westminster. His wife Alice died just two days afterward, and their only surviving son Robert was buried later that month. Their deaths are believed to be connected to the plague outbreak that afflicted London during that summer.

Drama

The earliest drama registered under Constable’s name was the initial edition of Samuel Daniel's pastoral tragicomedy Hymen's Triumph in January 1615.

He published a significant number of plays, frequently joining forces with Humphrey Moseley. Among his notable theatrical publications were:

the first quarto of Beaumont and Fletcher's The Maid's Tragedy, co-published with stationer Richard Higgenbotham (1619);
the second quarto of the same work (1622);
Thomas Middleton's A Chaste Maid in Cheapside (1630);
Pathomachia (1630);
James Shirley's Love Tricks, issued as The School of Compliment (1631) along with its second edition (1637);
Philip Massinger and Nathan Field's The Fatal Dowry (1632);
William Rowley's A New Wonder, a Woman Never Vexed (1632);
Richard Brome's The Antipodes and The Sparagus Garden (both published in 1640);
Henry Glapthorne's The Lady's Privilege and Wit in a Constable (1640).

Constable worked alongside several London printers such as Richard and Thomas Cotes, Nicholas Okes and his son John Okes, as well as Elizabeth Allde, among others.

Other works

In addition to drama, Constable’s publishing output encompassed a wide range of literary genres. He released the second edition of William Vaughan's The Spirit of Detraction (1630), several editions of Thomas Scott's satirical work Philomythie, or Philomythologie beginning in 1616, and Henry Peacham the younger's The Complete Gentleman starting from 1622. His catalogue also featured religious texts such as Alexander Ross's Three Decades of Divine Meditations (1630) and Richard Braithwaite's devotional poems titled The Psalms of David (1638). Additionally, he published Peacham's Thalia's Banquet (1620), his elegy Thestylis Astrata (1634), along with Glapthorne's poem Whitehall (1643). Works related to medicine and anatomy were also part of his offerings.

Constable ventured into social critique and political discourse by issuing titles like Machiavel's Ghost, as He Lately Appeared to His Dear Sons, the Modern Projectors (1641; attributed to John Taylor the Water Poet) and Samuel Hartlib’s utopian treatise A Description of the Famous Kingdom of Macaria (1641). Furthermore, he supplied political and legal documents pertinent to the outbreak of the English Civil War and the establishment of the Commonwealth.

Family

Francis Constable and his spouse Alice were parents to fifteen offspring:

Alice, baptized on 24 September 1615 at St. Gregory by St. Paul, London.
Sarah, baptized 16 March 1616/7 at St. Gregory by St. Paul, London; she wed Anthony Savage sometime after 6 October 1646 in London. Together, they submitted their mother’s will for probate.
Joan, baptized 11 September 1618 at St. Gregory by St. Paul, London.
Mary, baptized 21 October 1619 at St. Andrew, Enfield, Middlesex; also involved in presenting their mother’s will for probate.
Elizabeth, baptized 24 October 1620 at St. Gregory by St. Paul, London.
Anne, baptized 21 February 1621/2 at St. Gregory by St. Paul, London.
Margaret, baptized 26 June 1623 at St. Gregory by St. Paul, London; married Robert Hunny on 1 July 1642 at St. Margaret, Westminster.
Rachel, baptized 24 September 1624 at St. Gregory by St. Paul, London.
Simon, baptized 14 August 1625 in Datchet; interred on 29 November 1627 in London.
Robert (twin), baptized 24 August 1626; passed away on 10 September 1626.
Roger (twin), baptized the same day as Robert; died the same day as his twin brother.
Alice, baptized 16 March 1627/8 in London.
Frances, baptized 5 July 1629; participated in presenting their mother’s will for probate.
Rachel, baptized 18 July 1630; likewise involved in probate of their mother’s will.
Robert, baptized 2 October 1631; deceased on 28 August 1647.

Some genealogical accounts suggest that Anne Constable married Richard Lee I of the Virginia colony—an ancestor of Confederate General Robert E. Lee—however, this claim remains unconfirmed.

Francis Constable's father

Robert Constable, Francis’s father who died before 1607, hailed from North Pickenham in Norfolkshire and enrolled at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in March 1574 at age eighteen. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1577 and was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn as a barrister and lawyer in February 1582.

Originating from a yeoman family with landholdings in Norfolk, Robert sold property in North Pickenham in 1575 and financed his sons’ university education at Cambridge. His younger brother Thomas matriculated at Cambridge in 1577.

The family were recognized as popish recusants—Roman Catholics who refused to conform to Church of England rites—which exposed them to legal sanctions such as fines and occupational restrictions under laws enacted from the late sixteenth through early seventeenth centuries affecting professions like law and medicine. This circumstance likely influenced Francis and his brother Robert to pursue careers in printing under the guidance of their maternal uncle rather than entering the legal profession.

Although certain genealogical sources propose Francis was a great-grandson of Thomas Constable M.P. of Great Grimsby and Sir Robert Constable of Flamburgh, Yorkshire, no verified evidence links these lines to Francis’s Norfolk family due to multiple unrelated Constable families existing simultaneously across England during that period.

References