In 1813, his business as a cotton manufacturer having fallen off, he opened a bookshop and printing-office at Shrewsbury, where he published the Salopian Magazine (1815–17), and printed many small books, most of them written by himself.

His house burned down, and his large library was destroyed, on 7 January 1839; but he was able by a public subscription and a grant from the Royal Literary Fund, to rebuild his residence and to purchase an annuity.

He died there after a stroke on 7 October 1857 aged 79, and was buried at the parish church in Hadnall,[1] where his epitaph speaks of "a diversified and uesful (sic) life".

His works include: In 1805 he married Anna, daughter of Thomas Wood, proprietor of the Shrewsbury Chronicle.

His eldest son, Charles Augustus Hulbert (1804–1888), was also a writer, and instrumental in the restoration of Almondbury Church.