Thomas Hughes

Tom Brown at Oxford, Volume I (Dodo Press) Thomas Hughes

Thomas Hughes (1822-1896), who also wrote under the pseudonym An Old Boy, was an English lawyer and author. He was elected to Parliament as a Liberal for Lambeth (1865-1868), and for Frome (1868-1874). An avid social reformer, he became interested in the Christian socialism movement led by Frederick Maurice, which he had joined in 1848. In 1880 he founded a settlement in America - Rugby, Tennessee - which was designed as an experiment in utopian living for second sons of the English gentry, although this later proved largely unsuccessful. While his original intent was unsuccessful, Rugby still exists and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is currently pursuing National Landmark status. Hughes is most famous for his novel Tom Brown's School Days (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. It had a lesser-known sequel, Tom Brown at Oxford (1861). He also wrote Religio Laici (1868), Life of Alfred the Great (1869) and Memoir of a Brother (1873).