Francis Wrigley Hirst was born on 10 June 1873 at Dalton Lodge to his parents Mary Wrigley and Alfred Hirst. He was educated at Clifton College, and later at Wadham College, Oxford, where he studied Classics. His interest in liberalism led him to join the Russell Club, become president of the Oxford Union Society, and author Essays in Liberalism By Six Oxford Men with his friends in 1897. Hirst wrote for numerous publications, including The Speaker, The Manchester Guardian, The Tribune, and The Nation. He was chief editor of The Economist from 1907 until 1916. Due to his outspoken campaigning during wartime, where he published numerous pieces against conscription, on irresponsible war finance, and on the threat the war posed to civil liberties, he was forced to resign. In 1916, he set up his own paper, Common Sense, which was devoted to a negotiated peace, retrenchment, and the economy. In 1921, Common Sense was discontinued, and as Hirst's influence within liberalism waned, he drew his attention to giving lectures in South Africa, Austria, and widely in the United States.

Hirst unsuccessfully stood for Parliament as a Liberal in 1910 and 1929, and in June 1936 he was elected to serve on the Liberal Party Council. Hirst wrote extensively about Adam Smith, William Ewart Gladstone, and John Morley. He died in 1953 of influenza, and a book titled F.W. Hirst By his Friends was published in his remembrance in 1958.