Hughes, Thomas 1822-96
English reformer and novelist

Born in Uffington, Berkshire, he was educated at Rugby and Oriel College, Oxford, before being called to the Bar in 1848, and becoming a county court judge in 1882. He was a Liberal MP (1865-74), was closely associated with the Christian Socialists, supported trade unionism, and helped to found the Working Men's College, of which he was principal from 1872 to 1883, and a model settlement in Tennessee, USA. He is primarily remembered as the author of the semi-autobiographical public school classic, Tom Brown's Schooldays (1857), based on his school experiences at Rugby under the headmastership of Dr Thomas Arnold. The sequel, Tom Brown at Oxford (1861), was less successful. He also wrote a number of biographies and social studies.

Bibliography: E C Mack and W H G Armytage, Thomas Hughes (1952)