Thomas Hughes
Thomas Hughes QC | |
---|---|
Born | Uffington, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England | 20 October 1822
Died | 22 March 1896 Brighton, East Sussex, England | (aged 73)
Pen name | Vacuus Viator[1] |
Occupation | Lawyer, writer, reformer |
Education | Oriel College, Oxford |
Period | Nineteenth century |
Genre | Children's literature |
Thomas Hughes
Hughes had numerous other interests, in particular as a Member of Parliament, in the British co-operative movement, and in a settlement—Rugby, Tennessee, USA—reflecting his values.
Early life
Hughes was the second son of John Hughes, editor of the Boscobel Tracts (1830), and was born in Uffington, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire). He had six brothers, and one sister, Jane Senior, who later became Britain's first female civil servant. At the age of eight he was sent to Twyford School, a preparatory public school near Winchester, where he remained until the age of eleven. In February 1834 he went to Rugby School, which was then under the celebrated Thomas Arnold, a contemporary of his father at Oriel College, Oxford.
Hughes excelled at sports rather than in scholarship, and his school career culminated in a
Legal career
Hughes was
Social interests
A committed social reformer, Hughes became involved in the
Hughes gave evidence in 1850 to a House of Commons committee on savings.[4] In so doing he participated in a Christian Socialist initiative, which led shortly to the Industrial and Provident Societies Partnership Act 1852, and the emergence of the industrial and provident society.[6] The Act was the work of Robert Aglionby Slaney, with whom Hughes worked in alliance.[7][8]
Hughes was involved also in the formation of some early trade unions, and helped finance the printing of Liberal publications; and acted as the first
In politics
Hughes was elected to Parliament as a Liberal for Lambeth (1865–68), and for Frome (1868–74). He stood as candidate in 1874 for Marylebone in 1874, but dropped out just before the election, despite support from Octavia Hill.[4][11] The context for the end of his political career was the unpopularity with Hughes's Frome constituents of his support for the Elementary Education Act 1870.[12]
As an MP Hughes worked on
The outcome of this commission was that Harrison, Hughes and
Volunteers
During the invasion scare of 1859, Hughes raised the
Later life
In 1878–9 Hughes began writing The Manual for Co-operators (1881), with
Hughes was also a prominent figure in the anti-opium movement, and a member of the Society for the Suppression of the Opium Trade.[21]
At the end of the 1880s Hughes clashed with
Works
While living at Wimbledon, Hughes wrote his famous story Tom Brown's School Days, which was published in April 1857. He is associated with the novelists of the "muscular school", a loose classification but centred on the fiction of the Crimean War period.[23] Although Hughes had never been a member of the sixth form at Rugby, his impressions of the headmaster Thomas Arnold were reverent.
Hughes also wrote The Scouring of the White Horse (1859), Tom Brown at Oxford (1861), Religio Laici (1868), Life of Alfred the Great (1869) and the Memoir of a Brother. His brother, George Hughes, was the model for the Tom Brown character.
Family
In 1847, Hughes married Frances Ford, daughter of Rev.
Lilian Hughes perished in the sinking of the
Legacy
A Hughes Scholarship was founded at Oriel College, Oxford. It was a closed award, open only to members, or sons of members, of some Co-operative Societies, in which aspect the award reflected Hughes's involvement with the Co-operative Movement.[27] The first scholar was elected to Oriel in 1884.[28] It was later combined with an award honouring the social reformer Edward Vansittart Neale.[29]
A statue of Hughes (pictured right) stands outside Rugby School Library: the sculptor was Thomas Brock, and the statue was unveiled in 1899.[30]
Bibliography
Fiction
- Tom Brown's School Days (1857)
- The Scouring of The White Horse (1859)
- Tom Brown at Oxford (1861)
Non-fiction
- Religio Laici (1861)
- A Layman's Faith (1868)
- Alfred the Great (1870). In the Sunday Library for Household Reading, this was a largely political work, and was history verging on fiction.[31]
- Memoir of a Brother (1873)
- The Old Church; What Shall We Do With It? (1878)
- The Manliness of Christ (1879)
- True Manliness (1880)
- Rugby Tennessee (1881)
- Memoir of Daniel Macmillan (1882)
- G.T.T. Gone to Texas (1884)
- Notes for Boys (1885)
- Life and Times of Peter Cooper (1886)
- James Fraser Second Bishop of Manchester (1887)
- David Livingstone (1889)
- Vacation Rambles (1895)
- Early Memories for the Children (1899)
References
- ^ Joseph F. Clarke (1977). Pseudonyms. BCA. p. 164.
- ^ "Scorecard: Marylebone Cricket Club v Rugby School". cricketarchive.com. 18 June 1840. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
- ^ "Scorecard: Oxford University v Cambridge University". cricketarchive.com. 9 June 1842. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f Lee, Sidney, ed. (1901). . Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). Vol. 3. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ J. F. C. Harrison ,A History of the Working Men's College (1854–1954), Routledge Kegan Paul, 1954
- ^ Arnold Bonner (1970). British Co-operation. Cooperative Union. p. 66.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/25713. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14091. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Congress Presidents 1869–2002 (PDF), February 2002, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2008, retrieved 18 October 2007
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39657. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ISBN 978-1-108-02457-0.
- ^ Paul Smith (1967). Disraelian Conservatism and Social Reform. Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 178 note 3.
- ^ a b Paul Smith (1967). Disraelian Conservatism and Social Reform. Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 46.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37120. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Paul Smith (1967). Disraelian Conservatism and Social Reform. Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 215.
- ^ Army List.
- ^ Ian F.W. Beckett, Riflemen Form: A Study of the Rifle Volunteer Movement 1859–1908, Aldershot: Ogilby Trusts, 1982, ISBN 0 85936 271 X., pp. 33, 61, Appendices VI and VII.
- ^ Ray Westlake, Tracing the Rifle Volunteers, Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84884-211-3, p. 168.
- ISBN 978-0-521-53051-4.
- ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 2. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ISBN 978-0-8131-1924-3. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
- ^ Arnold Bonner (1970). British Co-operation. Cooperative Union. pp. 134–5.
- ISBN 978-0-8047-1842-4.
- ISBN 978-0-521-30387-3.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/38525. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ "gb1499-thl - Thomas and Mary Hughes Letters - Archives Hub". Retrieved 14 June 2014.
- ^ Oxford University Handbook (1912), p. 31; archive.org.
- ^ Charles Lancelot Shadwell, Registrum Orielense, an account of the members of Oriel College, Oxford vol. 2, (1893), pp. x–xi; archive.org.
- ^ Arnold Bonner (1970). British Co-operation. Cooperative Union. p. 499.
- ^ Public sculpture of Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull by George Thomas Noszlopy, page 28–29
- ISBN 978-0-521-03117-2.
- This entry incorporates some public-domain text originally from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannicabut has been heavily edited.
- The Aftermath with Autobiography of the Author (John Bedford Leno published by Reeves & Turner, London, 1892)
Further reading
- Briggs, Asa. "Thomas Hughes and the Public Schools": in Briggs, Victorian People (1955) pp. 140–167. online
- Kidd, Bruce (2006). "Muscular Christianity and Value-centred Sport: the Legacy of Tom Brown in Canada". International Journal of the History of Sport. 23 (5): 701–713. S2CID 145293571.
- Winterbottom, Derek. Thomas Hughes, Thomas Arnold, Tom Brown and the English Public Schools (Alondra Books, Isle of Man, 2022), 216 pp., ISBN No. 978-0-9567540-9-7. online on The Internet Archive.
External links
- Works by Thomas Hughes at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Thomas Hughes at Internet Archive
- Works by Thomas Hughes at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Thomas Hughes
- Historic Rugby, Tennessee
- Thomas Hughes correspondence collection is held at The National Co-operative Archive, Manchester.
- Details of Hughes family