Capt. (Sir W. W.) Hughes

An Interesting Career.

[By A. T. Saunders.]

26 January 1917

Sir W. W. Hughes was a shipmaster and shipowner when he first came to South Australia, and he had previously been in a cooper's factory. On November 24, 1839, there arrived in Port Adelaide the brig Hero, 163 tons, Capt. W. W. Hughes, from Singapore. The Hero was built at Moulmein in 1835, and was only 77 ft. in length. She sailed from Port Adelaide on January 7, 1840, for Singapore, Capt. W. W. Hughes in command, and returned to this State on April 30, 1840, and sailed again on June 7, 1840, for Singapore, with Capt Hughes still as master.

On November 21, 1840, the Hero once more arrived her from Singapore, but Capt. Wright was now in command. This fine brig came here again on May 31, 1848, under command of Capt. George Franklin, who was to become so well known here in the fine clipper ships Harwich and Saint Leonards. In June, 1849, the Hero was bought by J. F. Bennett and George Henry Fox, of Adelaide, and voyaged to Mauritius in charge of Capt. Tregurtha, one of the many ship masters known as 'Hell-fire Jack.' When Capt. Tregurtha was in Mauritius in 1849 he got into a row, and was so badly knocked about that a new master had to be put on board the Hero.

One of Dunbar's ships was in Port Louis, and her second mate, named Henry David Dale (father of Mr. A. H. Dale, of the Bank of Adelaide), was given command of the Hero, brought her to South Australia, and sailed her for about four years till he took charge of the Selma, when Capt. F. P. Snewin, father of Pilot Snewin, commanded the Hero, and sailed her for a few years. In one voyage from Calcutta to Adelaide Capt. Snewin had as a passenger Mr. Alan Webb, who became the Rev. Alan Webb, and married Miss Underwood (daughter of that very old identity, Capt. Underwood, of the cutter Governor Gawler, of the very early days). Mr. Webb was the father of Noel Augustine Webb, LL.B., now Deputy President of the Industrial Court. In 1856 the Adelaide owners sold the Hero foreign.

On January 16, 1841, there arrived at Port Adelaide the ship Devon, 609 tons, Capt. John Gething, from Singapore, with sugar, flour, sundries, and 116 ponies. Capt. Hughes was a passenger by her, and the cargo, or the bulk of it, was his property. Capt. Gething was a cousin of Dr. Gething, that irascible, good-hearted Welshman, who was so long and so well known and liked at Port Adelaide.

—Old Friends.—

Bunce and Thompson apparently had the Devon's cargo put into their hands for sale, and they and Capt. Hughes seem to have been friends, for in 1842 Capt. Hughes gave evidence in Bunce v. Stacy, in which Bunce got one farthing damages, and Capt. Hughes testified that he had known Bunce for two years.

It is recorded that in April 6, 1841, W. W. Hughes was one of those who signed an address to Governor Gawler, and in December, 1841, he was a passenger from Port Lincoln in the Waterwitch. In August, 1842, it was announced that a fine clipper brig was being built at Singapore for 'our enterprising townsman,' Capt. W. W. Hughes, to be employed between Adelaide and Singapore. I have seen no further reference to the brig.

The name of Capt. Hughes appears in many business ventures — sheep, mining, and other things— from this on.

—Copper.—

In The Register of February 17, 1854, is a letter from W. W. Hughes from Peat Station regarding a dead hutkeeper. No doubt he did well with the early ventures, in which he was associated more or less with the holders, but his connection with the Moonta and other copper mines on the peninsula gave him the bulk of his fortune. So far as I know, he had no children. Those who knew him say that he was a hard headed Scotsman, and he must have been a man of determination and ability, and certainly performed a large pioneering work in South Australia.

He was the father of the University, to which he gave the interest on £20,000 for some time, and afterwards the principal. This State owes a debt of gratitude to the Scotsmen who came to it in its infancy and insisted upon a general scheme of education being established; and Capt. W. W. Hughes was one of the most practical of them.

Hughes is usually looked on as a Welsh name, but Walter Watson Hughes was the son of Thomas Hughes, of Pittenweem, Fifeshire, Scotland, where he was born, August 22, 1803. In 1841 Capt. Hughes married in South Australia Sophia, eldest daughter of John Henry Richman. Lady Hughes died in 1885, and Sir W. W. Hughes, on New Year's Day 1887; he had been knighted in 1880. Sir James Fergusson was Governor of this State in 1871; and on October 28, 1871, Lady Edith Fergusson, daughter of Earl Dalhousie, died at Glanville Hall, Port Adelaide, now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Magnus Wald. Not long after Sir James Fergusson married Miss Richman, niece of Lady Hughes (then Mrs. Hughes), who soon died, and Sir James married the third time. Sir James Ferguson spent a large part of his time at Robe. He occupied the gaol there, or some of the residences attached thereto; he also spent a lot of his time on his yacht Edith, of which Capt. Lindsay (father of Mr. David Lindsay, the explorer) was master. Our former Governor perished in the volcanic eruption in the West Indies, about five years ago.