Francis Richard Lubbock was born to Dr. Henry Thomas Willis Lubbock (July 23, 1792-February 15, 1830) and Susan Ann Saltus (May 16, 1793-July 4, 1836) in Beaufort District, South Carolina on October 16, 1815. At 14, he began a life-long career in the mercantile business. In 1834, he moved to New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, and there married Adele Frances Baron (October 19, 1818-December 1, 1882) on February 5, 1835. Heading to Texas in 1836, he became one of the early settlers of the city of Houston in Harris County, Texas, opened a general store, and later became involved in ranching.

     He served as Clerk of the Texas House of Representatives in 1838, was appointed Comptroller of the Treasury by Governor Sam Houston (March 2, 1793-July 26, 1863), and was Clerk of the Harris County Court from 1841 to 1857. In 1857, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of the state, but failed to be re-elected in 1859. The following year, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Charleston and after the party split, attended the Southern Democratic Convention in Richmond.

     Elected Governor of Texas in 1861, Lubbock was active in supporting the Confederate cause in raising troops for the Army and moving supplies through the blockade via Mexico. He declined re-nomination in 1863, and entered the Confederate Army with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He served as Assistant Adjutant General on the staff of Maj. Gen. "Prince John" Bankhead Magruder (May 1, 1807-February 18, 1871) and helped organize the transportation of troops and supplies during the Red River Campaign (March 10, 1864-May 22, 1864). Afterwards, he served on the staffs of Brig. Gen. Thomas Green (January 8, 1814-April 12, 1864) and Maj. Gen. John Austin Wharton (July 3, 1828-April 6, 1865).

     Lubbock was then called to Virginia and appointed Colonel and Aide de Camp to President Jefferson Davis (June 3, 1808-December 6, 1889) on June 14, 1864. He provided Davis with valuable information about Trans-Mississippi Department and the Confederate war efforts in that region. After the fall of Richmond, he accompanied Davis and the Cabinet in their flight and was captured with the President near Irwinville, Irwin County, Georgia on May 10, 1865. He was subsequently imprisoned at Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island, Delaware, and was kept in solitary confinement for seven months.

     Released in December 1865, he returned to Texas and began the organization of his mercantile store, F.R. Lubbock & Son. He later relocated to Galveston, Galveston County, Texas, and served three terms as City Treasurer. Beginning in 1878, he served four terms as Treasurer of Texas. He married Sarah Elizabeth Black Porter in December 1883, and following her death married Mary Louise Scott on August 12, 1903. Formally retiring in 1895, he worked on his memoirs, Six Decades In Texas (1900), and lived in Austin, Travis County, Texas until his death on June 22, 1905. Lubbock is buried in the Republic Hill section of Texas State Cemetery in Austin.