John Hughes (2 January 1790 – 13 December 1857) was an English author.

Life

Born 2 January 1790, he was the only child of Thomas Hughes, D.D.,

deputy clerk of the closet The Deputy Clerk of the Closet is the Domestic Chaplain to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The office was created in 1677. Since 1931, the Deputy Clerk is also the sub-dean of the Chapel Royal (under the Clerk of the Closet). The Deputy Cler ...

to George III and George IV, vicar of

Uffington Uffington is the name of several places: ; England *Uffington, Lincolnshire :* Uffington and Barnack railway station :* Uffington Rural District *Uffington, Oxfordshire :* Uffington railway station (Uffington Junction) *Uffington, Shropshire ;Un ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, and canon of

St. Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Gr ...

, by his wife Mary Anne, daughter of the Rev. George Watts, vicar of Uffington; she was an early friend of

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

. John Hughes was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and at

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

, where he graduated B.A. 1812 and M.A. 1815. About 1820 Hughes went to live at Uffington, but on the death of his father, thirteen years later, moved to

Donnington Priory Donnington Friary was a friary of crouched friars at Donnington in the English county of Berkshire. At the time of suppression the establishment was recorded as Trinitarian, but this was later corrected to Crossed Friars. This was possibly a pl ...

, Berkshire. He died at Brompton on 13 December 1857, aged 67.

Works

Hughes's main publications were: * ''An Itinerary of Provence and the Rhone made during the year 1819'', with etchings by the author, London, 1822, noted by Scott in the preface to ''

Quentin Durward ''Quentin Durward'' is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, first published in 1823. The story concerns a Scottish archer in the service of the French King Louis XI (1423–1483) who plays a prominent part in the narrative. Composit ...

''; and * an edition of ''The Boscobel Tracts'', Edinburgh and London, 1830; 2nd edit. Edinburgh and London, 1857. Hughes was known as a scholar and linguist, draughtsman and wood-carver. He gained an Oxford prize for Latin verse, and recited an English ode when the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

and the united sovereigns visited Oxford in 1814. He was the author of the macaronic Oriel grace-cup song ''Exultet mater Oriel''. He also published ''Lays of Past Days'', 1850, an ode recited in the Theatre, Oxford, 1814; and ''Pompeii'' (an ode) 820? ''Views in the South of France'' (1825) engraved by

William Bernard Cooke William Bernard Cooke (1778 – 2 August 1855), was an English line engraver. Life and work Cooke was born in London in 1778. He was the elder brother of George Cooke (1781–1834), and became a pupil of William Angus (1752–1821), the engr ...

contained illustrations after sketches made by Hughes.

Family

Hughes married, 14 December 1820, Margaret Elizabeth, second daughter of Thomas Wilkinson, of Stokesley Hall,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

; they had a family of six sons and one daughter. The second son was the author

Thomas Hughes Thomas Hughes (20 October 182222 March 1896) was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. ...

who wrote an account of the eldest son, George Edward Hughes of Donnington Priory, in ''Memoir of a Brother''; it contains some of John Hughes's letters to his sons. The daughter became known as the administrator

Jane Senior Jane Nassau Senior (1828–1877) was Britain's first female civil servant, and a philanthropist. She was co-founder of the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants (MABYS). Life Senior was born Jane Elizabeth Hughes at Uffington ...

Notes

Attribution

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, John 1790 births 1857 deaths English travel writers English book editors English male poets 19th-century English poets 19th-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers