Thomas Hughes (20 October 1822 – 22 March 1896) was an English barrister, 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 and his brother had attended. It had a lesser-known sequel, Tom Brown at Oxford (1861).
Hughes had numerous other interests, in particular as a Member of Parliament, in the British co-operative movement, and in a settlement—Rugby, Tennessee, US—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 in 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 prep 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 cricket 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 Oxford University Cricket Club in the annual University Match against Cambridge, also played at Lord's, a match still regarded as first-class cricket.
Legal career
Hughes was called to the bar in 1848, became a Queen's Counsel in 1869 and a bencher in 1870. He was appointed as a county court judge in the Chester district in July 1882.
