In 1903 he married Helena Mary Carroll Cobden at Heyshott, near Midhurst, West Sussex. She was born on 16 February 1880 in Japan. She died 27 December 1965 in Chichester, West Sussex. Helena was Richard Cobden's great-niece. Francis Hirst had a particular affection for the Cobden Club and the Dunford House Association. One of his homes was Dunford House, Midhurst, West Sussex – the former home of Richard Cobden – where he used to organise the "Dunford House Conferences". The Hirsts lived there until 1952.