Cubbon was born in
Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire on 9 April 1928. His father, Edward Moore Cubbon was a primary school teacher and his mother was Anita Jane, née Crossland. Cubbon was educated at
Bury Grammar School under a scholarship and went on to study Classics at
Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1949. He spent a while in the
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers for
national service. Cubbon was injured in an
IRA bomb explosion in which the British Ambassador to Ireland,
Christopher Ewart-Biggs, was killed in 1976. The car in which the party was travelling was blown up by a bomb concealed in a culvert under the road. Cubbon's Private Secretary, Judith Cooke, was also killed, and the driver, Brian O'Driscoll, was injured. He married art teacher, Lorin Richardson on 20 October 1956 and they had four children. He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1974, Knight Commander (KCB) in 1977 and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) 1984, the highest rank of the
Order of the Bath. ==Coat of arms==