Thomas Hughes - the Rugby colony and later life

The Rugby colony

In 1879 land for development became available in Tennessee. There Hughes proposed to build a new town, to be named Rugby. He hoped the site would become a haven for young settlers from Britain. His theory was that farming and other manual jobs for the common good would benefit the second sons of Britain. Under the laws of that time, sons other than the first-born inherited little wealth and were often forced into rigid career roles that did not suit them.

Thomas Hughes invested heavily in the project, and, largely through his efforts, 120 settlers were soon on their way. Thomas Hughes's mother came to live in the Colony and, at 84, was the oldest resident. She lived in Uffington House. Unfortunately, the site chosen was not conducive to be self-supporting and the project began to fail. The colonists built a Church, a hotel and a library, to which Hughes persuaded American publishers to contribute books. The savings of the settlers dwindled and one by one they left the colony.

In recent years the colony village has been restored and is now both a living community and a fascinating historic site. The Historic Rugby web site gives an excellent description of the village and its origins.

Memorials to Hughes

Thomas Hughes died on 22nd March 1896. There is a statue of him at Rugby School.

'Tom Brown's Schooldays' is still in print, and is even available now as an electronic 'e-book'.

In Hughes' memory, a Tom Brown's Festival was held in Uffington by the Worker's Educational Association (WEA) of Swindon. The Meeting was addressed by Mary Hughes, Thomas Hughes' daughter, who inherited her father's social conscience. She lived in the East London and took over a former public house and renamed it the Dewdrop Inn: for Education and Joy. Here she took in the destitute and held religious and trade union meetings. Alfred Williams, the Wiltshire Poet, also spoke at the meeting.

There is a memorial plaque to Thomas Hughes in the North Transept of Uffington Church. Itwas donated by his friend and fellow worker, Walter Morrison, and unveiled on 29th November, 1912.

John Little, who lived in the village, researched into the life and works of Thomas Hughes and was the inspiration behind the 1972 Tom Brown Festival, celebrating the 150th anniversary of Hughes' birth. This three-day event raised funds to build a new village hall and was the forerunner to the White Horse Show. The proceeds from these shows enabled the Thomas Hughes Memorial Hall to be built in 1975. Mr Little arranged for the foundation stone from the Co-operative Wholesale Society building in London was re-laid at the Hall.

The idea of having a Museum in the Schoolroom was conceived by John Little and Tom Brown's School Museum was opened by him in 1984. All of the exhibits have been donated to the Museum, mostly by residents of the villages of Uffington, Woolstone and Baulking who are keen to have the history of the area preserved. On John Little's death in 1986, his widow, Joan, donated his collection of 136 different editions of "Tom Brown's School Days" to the Museum.