Herbert Hughes

COLONEL HERBERT HUGHES CB, CMG

Herbert Hughes was born in Oxford in 1853. After qualifying as a solicitor he came to Sheffield in 1876 and joined the firm of Wilson Young and Nixon (later Younge Wilson). In time he became Sheffield’s leading solicitor.

However he was much more than just a solicitor. By 1902, he had become recognized as an international authority on the Law of Trade Marks and Patents, even acting as technical adviser to the British delegations to several Conferences on Intellectual (then called Industrial) law. He was also a keen supporter of the Territorial Army, and even found time to be active in local politics. He was elected Lord Mayor in 1905, and leader of the local Conservative party in 1906.

Herbert Hughes had a keen interest in education. In 1901, as a City Counsellor, he chaired a committee which recommended that the teaching of modern languages in the city to be put on a firm basis. This resulted in honours courses in French and German being established at what was then the University College of Sheffield. However, regret was expressed that a School of Spanish could not be set up.

In 1915, the Chamber of Commerce called a meeting which Hughes presided over. A pledge was made to support the establishment of a chair or readership in Spanish at the recently founded University of Sheffield, but it came to nothing. However, after the sudden death of Hughes in January 1917 the Chamber and the Cutlers’ Company launched a public appeal and, with the money raised, the Herbert Hughes Memorial Fund was established in April the following year. This fulfilled the pledge made three years earlier.

One hundred years after it was established, the Fund continues to support the study of Hispanic languages in local schools and at Sheffield’s two Universities.

In 1975, the Fund’s remit was adjusted so as to provide prizes and travel awards to support the study of Hispanic languages in local schools as well as in both the University of Sheffield and the recently chartered Sheffield Hallam University. Recently a scheme was initiated whereby, with the assistance of sponsorship from local businesses, students at both Universities are invited to apply for a Hughes Bursary over three years of their course. A central feature of this scheme is an enhanced amount applied to their year of residence abroad, to enable the beneficiaries to derive added academic and cultural value from that experience. You can learn about some of the positive experiences had by the recipients of the Fund by exploring this webpage, and by attending our Centenary celebrations on the 19th May 2017 at the Octagon centre. The celebrations include an exhibition and a concert.

If you would like to attend the exhibition please complete the form HERE. The deadline for receiving bookings is 12th May 2017. If you would like to attend the Concert please book through the University website HERE. You can book any time before the concert.

To commemorate the centenary of his death and the foundation of the Herbert Hughes Memorial Fund, the Trustees have published a brochure about Hughes life and the Fund created in his memory. This brochure can be downloaded from the link above. In this centenary year, the Trustees are studying ways of attracting additional sponsorship, in order to ensure continuity, and ideally further extension, of the Bursary programme. They consider that this is a most appropriate way of projecting into the future both the esteem in which Colonel Hughes was held by the citizenry of Sheffield, and the great generosity of the original subscribers to the fund established in his memory.