Son of a Dorset chemist (pharmacist), M.H. Hodder was born in Uxbridge, Middlessex. He started in the publishing business at age 14, working for Jackson & Walford, the official publisher for the Congrgational Union. His name was added to the company’s name in 1861. When Messrs. Jackson and Walford retired in 1868 he took over the firm; he then joined with Thomas Wilberforce Stoughton, who was an evangelical dissenter like himself, to form the well-known firm of Hodder & Stoughton, now owned by Hachette. In the 1880s and 1890s, Hodder & Stoughton published many of Sir John William Dawson’s books, including those which dealt with the relationship between science and religion, a controversial topic at the time. Hodder was a lifelong friend of Sir George Williams, the founder of the Young Men’s Christian Association, and he gave a speech to the 1869 meeting of the organization in Portland, Maine.