Thomas McKenny Hughes (17 December 1832 – 9 June 1917) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

geologist. He was

Woodwardian Professor of Geology The Woodwardian Professor of Geology is a professorship held in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge. It was founded by John Woodward in 1728 under the title of Professor of Fossils. Woodward's will left to the University ...

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 ...

Private life

Thomas M. Hughes was born in

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

, one of the nine children (six sisters, two brother) of the Welsh bishop Joshua Hughes (1807–1889) and his wife Margaret Hughes (née McKenny). His younger brother

Joshua Pritchard Hughes Joshua Pritchard Hughes (13 February 1847 – 8 April 1938) was Bishop of Llandaff from 1905 to 1931. Hughes was born into an ecclesiastical family, the son of Joshua Hughes (Bishop of St Asaph 1870–1889). His older brother was the geologist ...

(1847–1938) was bishop of Llandaff. The Mckenny connection was through his maternal grandfather, Sir Thomas McKenny, first baronet and Lord Mayor of Dublin. Thomas Hughes married Mary Caroline Weston in 1882 (daughter of Rev. G.F. Weston of Crosby Ravensworth, Westmoreland). She was 30 years younger than him, and the marriage happened because of a change in rules at Cambridge University. They had three sons, Tom, George and Alfred. Tom was killed in 1918 whilst carrying out aerial reconnaissance behind enemy lines in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. George was a clerk to the

Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company and formally titled The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London, is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of Londo ...

, and Alfred was an

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

Education and career

Hughes received the first part of his education at Leamington and

Llandovery Llandovery (; cy, Llanymddyfri ) is a market town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on the River Tywi and at the junction of the A40 and A483 roads, about north-east of Carmarthen, north of Swansea and west of Brecon. Histo ...

, and matriculated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

in 1853, from which he graduated in 1857, and as M.A. in 1867. Hughes had attended

Adam Sedgwick Adam Sedgwick (; 22 March 1785 – 27 January 1873) was a British geologist and Anglican priest, one of the founders of modern geology. He proposed the Cambrian and Devonian period of the geological timescale. Based on work which he did on W ...

’s lectures in Geology and was a member of the

Sedgwick Club The Sedgwick Club is the official student geological society at the University of Cambridge, and is the oldest student-run geological society in the world. It aims to promote the subject of geology among its members through regular talks and so ...

which formed in Adam Sedgwick's honour. From 1860 to 1861, Hughes held the post of secretary to the British consul in Rome, Charles Newton and later as acting Consul. It was at this time his interest in archaeology was sparked. Whilst in Rome, Hughes made collections of fossils from the local area. In 1861, the then Director-General of the Geological Survey, Sir

Roderick Murchison Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet, (19 February 1792 – 22 October 1871) was a Scotland, Scottish geologist who served as director-general of the British Geological Survey from 1855 until his death in 1871. He is noted for investigat ...

offered Hughes a position. He began his Survey work as an Assistant Geologist. Hughes continued working for the Survey until 1873. During his Survey career, Hughes worked in the following areas. Between 1865 and 1866 he was based in Hertford and St. Albans where he described the Drift Gravels. Then in 1866, Hughes was transferred to the Lake District and superintended by W. T. Aveline. Here he collected fossils from the ‘Silurians’. He sided with Sedgwick in relation to the lower boundary of the Silurian, to the disagreement of Murchison. He also believed the ‘Old Red Conglomerate to form a sort of passage between the Mountain Limestone and the Millstone Grit’. Hughes worked in Westmoreland,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

and the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills ri ...

. In 1873 he lived in

Sedbergh Sedbergh ( or ) is a town and civil parish in Cumbria, England. The 2001 census gave the parish a population of 2,705, increasing at the 2011 census to 2,765. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies about east of Kendal, no ...

. In the 1870s McKenny Hughes entered into correspondence with

Charles Lyell Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known as the author of ''Principles of Geolo ...

. He started a debate regarding Mountain Limestone country. Lyell and Hughes went on many geological expeditions together. In 1872 they visited the

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

caves in the Dordogne and Aurignac. Hughes returned to

to succeed

in 1873. Nine candidates had applied for this post; Hughes got it with a small majority over Professor

Thomas George Bonney Thomas George Bonney (27 July 1833 – 10 December 1923) was an English geologist, president of the Geological Society of London. Career Bonney was born in Rugeley, Staffordshire, England, the eldest son of the Reverend Thomas Bonney, headma ...

. Following his marriage in 1882, he taught his wife geology and she became a researcher in her own right. She also acted as a chaperone so that women students could attend fieldwork, in addition to lectures and practical classes. This resulted in an increase in women students in the Geology Department at Cambridge and a third of the university's Geological Club were women. Thomas and Mary McKenny Hughes attended the International Geological Congress in Zurich in 1894 together as well as the International Geological Congress in Russia in 1897. She kept diaries and scrapbooks of their trips together. Whilst Woodwardian Professor, McKenny Hughes endeavoured to establish a lasting memorial to

, in the form of a Museum and school of geology. This memorial museum would replace the cramped and inadequate Woodwardian Museum in the Cockerell Building near Senate House. An appeal committee was established and by 1878 they held £12,000. It would take another 26 years for the memorial to be built. Sir

Thomas Graham Jackson Sir Thomas Graham Jackson, 1st Baronet (21 December 1835 – 7 November 1924) was one of the most distinguished British architects of his generation. He is best remembered for his work at Oxford, including the Oxford Military College at Cowl ...

was the chosen architect. The Museum opened on 1 March 1904 by

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

and

Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of King ...

Later life

Hughes died at his home ‘Ravensworth’, Brooklands Avenue in Cambridge, 9 June 1917. His wife died a year later. His grandson, Graham Hughes, was later the art director of

Goldsmiths' Company The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company and formally titled The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London, is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of Londo ...

, who were behind the renaissance in modern silver design.

Awards and work

His over 50 research publications, mainly on work performed during his time at the Survey, are mainly about

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...

and

Palaeozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and '' ...

formations in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, as well as of the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

. He also worked on glacial deposits. Hughes was vice-president of the

Geological Society The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

in 1862, elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1889, and

Lyell Medal The Lyell Medal is a prestigious annual scientific medal given by the Geological Society of London, equal in status to the Murchison Medal. This medal is awarded based on one Earth Scientist's exceptional contribution of research to the scientific ...

recipient in 1891.

References

External links

* * Biography in th
Welsh Biography Online

Photo
from the Royal Society Archives (taken 1874) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Thomas McKenny 1832 births 1917 deaths People from Aberystwyth Lyell Medal winners Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society Woodwardian Professors of Geology Welsh geologists