Walter Watson Hughes
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Sir Walter Watson Hughes (22 August 1803 – 1 January 1887),Dirk Van Dissel,
Hughes, Sir Walter Watson (1803 - 1887)
, ''
Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...
'', Volume 4, MUP, 1972, pp 440-441. Retrieved 11 August 2009
who before his knighthood was frequently referred to as "Captain Hughes", was a pastoralist, public benefactor and founder of the
University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...
, South Australia.


Early life

Hughes was born in
Pittenweem Pittenweem ( ) is a fishing village and civil parish in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,747. Etymology The name derives from Pictish and Scottish Gaelic. "Pit-" represents Pictish ''pett'' 'pl ...
,
Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
, Scotland, the third son of Thomas Hughes and his wife Eliza, ''née'' Anderson. Hughes attended school in
Crail Crail (; ) is a former royal burgh, parish and Community council#Scotland, community council area (Royal Burgh of Crail and District) in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. The locality has an estimated population of 1,630 (2018). Etymology The ...
and was apprenticed to a cooper for a short time - he then entered the merchant service and became a master, including whaling in the
Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...
for several years. After hearing of opportunities for trade in Asia, Hughes purchased a brig, ''Hero'', in
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
and traded opium in the Indian Ocean and seas of China, having to contend with pirates.


Australia

Hughes emigrated to South Australia in 1840, started business with Bunce & Thomson and took up land. One property, Spring Vale estate near Watervale, he planted with grape vines — Rhine riesling,
Pedro Ximénez Pedro Ximénez (also known as PX and many other variations; Andalusian Spanish, Andalusian pronunciation ) is the name of a white Spanish wine grape variety grown in several Spanish wine regions but most notably in the (DO) of Montilla-Moriles. ...
, temprano,
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and
grenache Grenache (; ) or Garnacha () is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world. Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' p. 25, JP Bøger – JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. . It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry condi ...
. Hughes passed Spring Vale to his nephew James McKinnon Richman, and there C. A. Sobels began making wine, which was marketed in Adelaide by
Hermann Büring Theodor Gustav Hermann Büring (1846 – 8 September 1919), commonly anglicized to "Herman" and "Buring", was an Australian wine merchant and vigneron. History Büring was born in Berlin, son of Caroline Henriette Auguste Büring and Friedrich Adol ...
. Sobels and Büring subsequently purchased the estate. Hughes suspected land on which he kept sheep contained mineral deposits and informed his shepherds to look for minerals. In 1860 the
Wallaroo Wallaroo is a common name for several species of moderately large macropods, intermediate in size between the kangaroos and the wallabies, that are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. The word "wallaroo" is from the Dharug ''walaru'' wi ...
copper was discovered on his property, and in 1861 the even more important Moonta ore body was discovered nearby. Hughes secured the largest interest in both mines and became wealthy, despite paying several thousand pounds to rival claimants. In 1873 he joined with
Thomas Elder Sir Thomas Elder (5 August 1818 – 6 March 1897) was a Scottish-Australian Pastoral farming, pastoralist, highly successful businessman, philanthropist, politician, race-horse owner and breeder, and public figure. Amongst many other things, h ...
in bearing the expense of the exploring expedition under Colonel Peter Warburton. In 1872 Hughes offered £20,000 for the endowment of a theological college. It was, however, felt that so large a gift might be better used to found a university, and Hughes agreeing, the Adelaide University Association was established. The act of incorporation of the
University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...
was passed in 1874, but practically speaking the university did not begin to operate until three years later.


Late life

Hughes and his wife subsequently returned to England, and bought the Fancourt estate in
Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, southwest of central London. It grew up around Chertsey Abbey, founded in AD 666 by Earconwald, St Erkenwald, and gained a municipal charter, market charter from Henry I of Engla ...
,
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
. Hughes was knighted in 1880. Around this time he formed a partnership with P. B. Burgoyne, who was building up a market for fine Australian wines (notably Tintara) in London, and was in dire need of capital. He died at his home on 1 January 1887 after a long illness.


Legacy

He has been frequently referred to as the "father" of the University of Adelaide. The report of the council of the university for the year 1887, in recording their regret at his death, called him "the Founder of the Chair of Classics and of the Chair of English Language and Literature, and Mental and Moral Philosophy--whose munificence led to the establishment of the University". The coastal town of
Port Hughes Port Hughes is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on northern Yorke Peninsula about north-west of the state capital of Adelaide city centre, Adelaide. It is considered part of the Moonta, South Australia, Mo ...
was named in his honour.


Family

On 22 September 1841 Hughes married Sophia Richman, eldest daughter of
John Henry Richman John Henry Richman (1791 – 21 January 1864) was a lawyer in the young British colony of South Australia. Richman, his wife Frances (née Hampton) and children Henry John, Sophia, and Frances arrived in South Australia in February 1839 on the ''T ...
, who arrived in South Australia with his family aboard ''Thomas Harrison'' in February 1839. They had no children together. He began a relationship with an Aboriginal woman (Mary Jane Narungga/Moor/Wanganeen) who gave birth to Walter Hughes's son John Sansbury in 1854. Hughes was an uncle of Sir John James Duncan, and an ancestor of
Adam Goodes Adam Roy Goodes (born 8 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Goodes holds an elite place in VFL/AFL history as a dual Brownlow Medallist, d ...
.Who Do You Think You Are
Series 6, Episode 6 — Adam Goodes. Aired 12 August 2014


References


External links



{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Walter Watson 1803 births 1887 deaths Settlers of South Australia Knights Bachelor Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia Adelaide Club 19th-century Australian philanthropists People from Pittenweem Founders of Australian schools and colleges University and college founders