Thomas Hughes

HUGHES, Thomas. b. Uffington, Berkshire, 20 October 1822; d. Brighton, Sussex, 22 March 1896. He was educated at Rugby School under the great Thomas Arnold, and at Oriel College, Oxford (BA 1845). He was called to the Bar in 1847, and became a Queen’s Counsel in 1869. He was a friend of Charles Kingsley* and Frederick Denison Maurice, and was closely associated with them in the early years of the Christian Socialist movement. He is most famous for his novel, Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1857), which emphasised the high moral tone of Rugby School in Arnold’s day, and which influenced the development of Independent School (i.e. private school) education throughout the following years of the...