Frederic Godfrey Hughes CB VD (1858 - 1944)

Ancestors

Biography

Major General Frederic Hughes CB VD was an Australian Army general in the First World War and a Gallipoli veteran. He was a councillor on St Kilda Council for 23 years, including two terms as mayor.

Born Frederic Godfrey Hughes on 26th January 1858 at Brighton, Victoria, Australia. He was the second (surviving) son of Charles William Hughes, grazier, and his wife Ellen Man. Frederic's older brother, Jeremiah Hughes, passed away when Frederic was just 15 years old. His younger brothers were Canon Ernest Selwyn Hughes and Dr Wilfred Kent Hughes. Educated at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, he began as a clerk with a prominent Melbourne land valuer and agent, setting up on his own about 1884. In his youth, Frederic was a noted athlete, footballer (three seasons with Essendon Football Club) and rower. He is arguably best known, however, as a citizen soldier.

On 1st October 1885 in All Saints Church of England, St Kilda, he married Eva Snodgrass, daughter of Peter Snodgrass and his wife Charlotte Agnes Cotton.^[1] The Hughes and Snodgrass families had been neighbours in the Seymour district. Agnes and Frederic had two daughters and two sons.

Hughes joined the St Kilda Artillery Battery as a driver in 1875. By 1883 he had been promoted to Sergeant and was commissioned in 1885. By the time of federation, he was Lieutenant Colonel. Hughes' commands included 11th Australian Light Horse Regiment (1903–07), 4th Light Horse Brigade (1907-12), 7th Light Horse Brigade (1912-14) and then in the Australian Imperial Force with the 3rd Light Horse Brigade (1914-15). He was with the 3rd at Gallipoli when, some say, he mismanaged the bayonet charge at the Nek on 7th August. The artillery barrage lifted seven minutes early according to watches on Russell's Top allowing the Turks back into their trenches. Four waves of light horsemen charged the Turkish trenches, only to be cut down. He had been given incorrect intelligence and, at a crucial moment, the communication lines were broken by shelling. When Hughes was evacuated from Gallipoli weeks later with typhoid, detractors claimed that he had been 'sacked'. However, he was repatriated to Australia in March 1916 suffering from typhoid and pneumonia. Health restored, he served with the Sea Transport Service for the last parts of the war. He retired in March 1920 with the rank of Major General. Hughes was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath and awarded the Volunteer Officer's Decoration.

After the war Hughes concentrated on business, mining and pastoral interests; his directorships including Dunlop Rubber Pty Ltd and South Broken Hill Pty Ltd. He sat as an elected councillor on St Kilda Council for twenty-three years, including terms as mayor in 1901-02 and 1911-12. In old age he was a gentle man who enjoyed gardening and picnics.

Widowed for four years, Frederic passed away, aged 86 years, on 23rd August 1944 at St Kilda, Victoria, and was buried in St Kilda Cemetery.^[2] He was survived by his four children and their families.

Major-General Frederic Godfrey Hughes, C.B., V.D., who died at his home, Alma-road, St. Kilda, yesterday, 87 years, began his military career in 1875, when he joined the St. Kilda Battery of Field Artillery as a driver. When the Rupertswood battery was established by the late Sir William Clarke he took command with the rank of major. In 1914 he organised the 3rd Light Horse unit, and served with it at Gallipoli in 1915, where he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. He was mentioned in despatches, and later invalided home and placed on the retired list- He was a son of Charles William Hughes, of St. Kilda, and educated at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School. He was a member of St. Kilda council for 23 years, and mayor in 1901 and 1912. He took a keen interest in sport, and represented Victoria in interstate rowing and football contests. He had important city mining and pastoral interests, and was a director of Dunlop Rubber Australia Ltd., and South Broken Hill Pty. Ltd. His wife, who predeceased him, was a daughter of Mr. P. Snodgrass, a former member of the Legislative Assembly, and sister of Lady Janet Clarke. The late Canon Hughes was a brother. He is survived bv two sons and two daughters. The funeral, which will be conducted with full military honors, will leave All Saints-Church, St. Kilda, for St. Kilda cemetery at 2 p.m. to-day, following a service conducted by Archdeacon Schofield, at which Archbishop Booth will give an address. ^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Victoria Marriage Index #1895/1885
2. ↑ Victoria Death Index #9538/1944
3. ↑ The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954) Thu 24 Aug 1944 Page 2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206003041

• Smart, Judith. Hughes, Frederic Godfrey (1858–1944). Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hughes-frederic-godfrey-7077/text11675, published first in hardcopy 1983, accessed online 7 June 2018.
• Wikipedia:_Frederic_Hughes; accessed 7 Jun 2018.