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
''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is an 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes. The stor ...
'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at
Rugby School
Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England.
Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...
, which Hughes had attended. It had a lesser-known sequel, ''
Tom Brown at Oxford
''Tom Brown at Oxford'' is a novel by Thomas Hughes, first published in serial form in Macmillan's Magazine in 1859. It was published in two volumes in book form in 1861. It is a sequel to the better-known ''Tom Brown's School Days''.
T ...
'' (1861).
Hughes had numerous other interests, in particular as a Member of Parliament, in the
British co-operative movement
The United Kingdom is home to a widespread and diverse co-operative movement, with over 7000 registered co-operatives owned by 17 million individual members and which contribute £34bn a year to the British economy. Modern co-operation started wit ...
, and in a settlement—
Rugby, Tennessee
Rugby is an unincorporated community in Morgan and Scott counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Founded in 1880 by English author Thomas Hughes, Rugby was built as an experimental utopian colony. While Hughes's experiment largely failed, a sm ...
, 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 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 (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
Twyford School is a co-educational, independent, preparatory boarding and day school, located in the village of Twyford, Hampshire, England.
History
Twyford states itself to be the oldest preparatory school in the United Kingdom.
It moved to i ...
, a preparatory public school near Winchester, where he remained until the age of eleven. In February 1834 he went to
Rugby School
Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England.
Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...
, which was then under the celebrated
Thomas Arnold
Thomas Arnold (13 June 1795 – 12 June 1842) was an English educator and historian. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. As headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, he introduced several reforms that were wide ...
, a contemporary of his father 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 ...
.
Hughes excelled at sports rather than in scholarship, and his school career culminated in a
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
match at
Lord's Cricket Ground. In 1842 he went on to Oriel College, and graduated BA in 1845. At Oxford, he played cricket for the
university team in the annual
University Match
The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club.
From 2001, as part of the reorganisation of first-class cricket, ...
against
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, also at Lord's, and a match still regarded as
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
.
Legal career
Hughes was
called to the bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
in 1848, became
Queen's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...
in 1869 and a bencher in 1870. He was appointed to a county court judgeship in the
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
district in July 1882.
Social interests
A committed social reformer, Hughes became involved in the
Christian socialism movement led by
Frederick Maurice, which he joined in 1848. In January 1854 he was one of the founders of the
Working Men's College in
Great Ormond Street, and was the college's principal from 1872 to 1883.
J. F. C. Harrison
John Fletcher Clews Harrison (28 February 1921 – 8 January 2018), usually cited as J. F. C. Harrison, was a British academic who was Professor of History at the University of Sussex and author of books on history, particularly relating to Victor ...
,''A History of the Working Men's College (1854–1954)'', Routledge Kegan Paul, 1954
Hughes gave evidence in 1850 to a House of Commons committee on savings.
In so doing he participated in a Christian Socialist initiative, which led shortly to the
Industrial and Provident Societies Partnership Act 1852
The Industrial and Provident Societies Partnership Act 1852, also known (somewhat unjustifiably) as Slaney's Act, was a significant legislative landmark in the establishment of the co-operative movement in the United Kingdom.
Background
Prior to 1 ...
, and the emergence of the
industrial and provident society
An industrial and provident society (IPS) is a body corporate registered for carrying on any industries, businesses, or trades specified in or authorised by its rules.
The members of a society benefit from the protection of limited liability ...
. The Act was the work of
Robert Aglionby Slaney
Robert Aglionby Slaney (9 June 1791 – 19 May 1862) was a British barrister and Whig politician from Shropshire. He sat in the House of Commons as a Member of Parliament for the borough of Shrewsbury for most of the period from 1826 until his ...
, with whom Hughes worked in alliance.
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
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of the
Co-operative Congress
The Co-operative Congress is the national conference of the UK Co-operative Movement. The first of the modern congresses took place in 1869 following a series of meetings called the "Owenite Congress" in the 1830s. Members of Co-operatives UK ...
in 1869, serving on the
Co-operative Central Board. He invested with
William Romaine Callender in co-operative mills, in 1866.
In politics
![Thomas Hughes Vanity Fair 8 June 1872](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Thomas_Hughes_Vanity_Fair_8_June_1872.jpg)
Hughes was elected to Parliament as a
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
for
Lambeth
Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...
(1865–68), and for
Frome
Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...
(1868–74). He stood as candidate in 1874 for in 1874, but dropped out just before the election, despite support from
Octavia Hill.
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
The Elementary Education Act 1870, commonly known as Forster's Education Act, set the framework for schooling of all children between the ages of 5 and 12 in England and Wales. It established local education authorities with defined powers, autho ...
.
As an MP Hughes worked on
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
legislation, but was not in a position to have major changes passed.
He had greater success in improving the legal position of
co-operatives, which in particular became able to operate as a
limited company
In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...
.
The issue of legal obstacles to the operation of labour unions was topical, and in 1867 Hughes was made a member of a Royal Commission set up to consider the matter. Initially he was the only one on the committee sympathetic to the union point of view; after some lobbying he was joined by
Frederic Harrison
Frederic Harrison (18 October 1831 – 14 January 1923) was a British jurist and historian.
Biography
Born at 17 Euston Square, London, he was the son of Frederick Harrison (1799–1881), a stockbroker and his wife Jane, daughter of Alex ...
, and a concession was made to union representatives, allowing them observer places in the proceedings.
Hughes then worked with Harrison and
Robert Applegarth
Robert Applegarth (26 January 1834 – 13 July 1924) was a prominent British trade unionist and proponent of working class causes.
Biography
Robert Applegarth was born in Hull in England. His father was the captain of a whaling brig. He spent a b ...
to diminish the effect of some of the testimony from employers.
The outcome of this commission was that Harrison, Hughes and
Lord Lichfield
Earl of Lichfield is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of England (1645 and 1674) and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom (1831). The third creation is extant and is held by a member of the Anson family.
Hi ...
produced a minority report (1869), recommending that all the legal restrictions should be dropped.
Then the matter was raised again in a second Commission, at the end of Hughes's time in Parliament. At that point
Alexander Macdonald used a minority report to refer back to Hughes's earlier view; but Hughes signed the majority report. It advocated amendment of the
Master and Servant Act 1867
The Master and Servant Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict c 141) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which sought to criminalise breach of contract by workers against their employers. The Employers and Workmen Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict c 90) was pass ...
, but little substantive change to the
Criminal Law Amendment Act 1871
The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1871 (''34 & 35 Vict. c.32'') is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by W. E. Gladstone's Liberal Government. It was passed on the same day as the Trade Union Act 1871.
William Edward Hartpole Le ...
and the law of
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...
.
Later life
In 1878–9 Hughes began writing ''The Manual for Co-operators'' (1881), with
Vansittart Neale, for the Co-operative Congress. As a side-product he developed an interest in the
model village. In 1880, he acquired the ownership of
Franklin W. Smith
Franklin Webster Smith (1826–1911) was an American idealistic reformer who made his fortune as a Boston hardware merchant. He was an early Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, defendant in a civilian court-martial in 1864, author, an ...
's ''Plateau City'' and founded a settlement in America—
Rugby, Tennessee
Rugby is an unincorporated community in Morgan and Scott counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Founded in 1880 by English author Thomas Hughes, Rugby was built as an experimental utopian colony. While Hughes's experiment largely failed, a sm ...
—which was designed as an experiment in
utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...
n living for the younger sons of the English gentry. It followed closely on the failed colony Buckthorn (existing about 1872 to 1879), established by another Englishman
Charles Lempriere, in western Virginia; this settlement had supposedly been suggested by Hughes. Rugby was also unsuccessful on its own terms, but it still exists and is listed on the U.S.
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
Hughes was also a prominent figure in the anti-opium movement, and a member of the
Society for the Suppression of the Opium Trade
The Anglo-Oriental Society for the Suppression of the Opium Trade, generally known by the somewhat shorter name of Society for the Suppression of the Opium Trade (SSOT), was a British lobbying group in the late nineteenth and early twentieth cent ...
.
At the end of the 1880s Hughes clashed with
John Thomas Whitehead Mitchell of the
Co-operative Wholesale Society
A co-operative wholesale society, or CWS, is a form of co-operative federation (that is, a co-operative in which all the members are co-operatives), in this case, the members are usually consumer cooperatives. According to co-operative economi ...
, over the
vertical integration
In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the suppl ...
Mitchell favoured for the Society. Hughes died in 1896 aged 73, at
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, of heart failure, and was buried there.
Works
While living at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, Hughes wrote his famous story ''
Tom Brown's School Days
''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is an 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes. The stor ...
'', 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
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
period. Although Hughes had never been a member of the
sixth form
In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...
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
Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...
'' (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.
James Ford, and niece of
Richard Ford
Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel ''The Sportswriter'' and its sequels, ''Independence Day'', ''The Lay of the Land'' and ''Let Me Be Frank With You'', and the ...
, and they settled in 1853 at Wimbledon.
Their house there was built by the North London Working Builders' Association, a Christian Socialist co-operative; and was shared with
J. M. F. Ludlow and his family; Ludlow already shared barristers' chambers with Hughes, and the arrangement lasted four years.
There were five sons (Maurice, James, George, John, and Arthur) and four daughters (Lilian, Evie, Caroline and
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
) of the marriage.
Lilian Hughes perished in the sinking of the
RMS ''Titanic'' in 1912. The youngest child Mary Hughes was a well known
Poor Law guardian and volunteer visitor to the local Poor Law infirmary and children's home.
Legacy
![Thomes_Hughes_statue,_4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Thomes_Hughes_statue%2C_4.22_%281%29.jpg)
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. The first scholar was elected to Oriel in 1884. It was later combined with an award honouring the social reformer
Edward Vansittart Neale
Edward Vansittart Neale (1810–1892) was an English barrister, cooperator, and Christian socialist.
Biography
Neale was born on 2 April 1810 in Bath, one of the eight children of Edward Vansittart Neale (formerly Vansittart), Rector of T ...
.
A statue of Hughes (pictured above right) stands outside Rugby School Library: the sculptor was
Thomas Brock
Sir Thomas Brock (1 March 184722 August 1922) was an English sculptor and medallist, notable for the creation of several large public sculptures and monuments in Britain and abroad in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
His mos ...
, and the statue was unveiled in 1899.
Bibliography
Fiction
*''
Tom Brown's School Days
''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is an 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes. The stor ...
'' (1857)
*''The Scouring of The
White Horse'' (1859)
*''
Tom Brown at Oxford
''Tom Brown at Oxford'' is a novel by Thomas Hughes, first published in serial form in Macmillan's Magazine in 1859. It was published in two volumes in book form in 1861. It is a sequel to the better-known ''Tom Brown's School Days''.
T ...
'' (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.
*''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
*This entry incorporates some public-domain text originally from the ''
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica'' but has been heavily edited.
* The Aftermath with Autobiography of the Author (
John Bedford Leno
John Bedford Leno (29 June 1826 – 31 October 1894) was a Chartist, radical, poet, and printer who acted as a "bridge" between Chartism and early Labour movements, as well as between the working and ruling classes. He campaigned to give the v ...
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*
External links
*
*
*
*
Historic Rugby, TennesseeThomas Hughes correspondence collection is held at The National Co-operative Archive, Manchester.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Thomas
1822 births
1896 deaths
19th-century English novelists
Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford
Anglican writers
English Christian socialists
English cricketers
English male novelists
British children's writers
Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 1865–1868
UK MPs 1868–1874
Oxford University cricketers
People educated at Rugby School
People educated at Twyford School
People from Vale of White Horse (district)
People from Wimbledon, London
Presidents of Co-operative Congress
Anglican socialists
English King's Counsel
English trade unionists
Victorian novelists