Oughton was born in
Jamaica, the youngest son of Rev.
Samuel Oughton, whose daughter Lavinia married
E. Paxton Hood. When young he returned with his parents to England, where he went to school conducted by Professor Newth in
Oundle, Northamptonshire, and in addition to the usual subjects he studied music, for which he had shown an early aptitude. For some time he was studied with
Ebenezer Prout, to whom he was distantly related. In 1859 he sailed for
Melbourne, where he received special instruction in band work from bandmaster Johnson, of the 40th Regiment, and sailed with the regiment to New Zealand, where he served for five years, and was present at several battles in what was then known as the
Maori Wars. He then went into business in
Auckland, and entered into the musical life of that city. In August 1870 He became associated with the Unitarian congregation at a social meeting at
White's Rooms in July 1875, and in December 1876 was appointed their organist while it was being constructed. He opened the new
Wolff organ on 13 April 1877, nearly 20 years after the first sermon by the Rev. J. C. Woods in the new church. He remained with the church until 1881. He founded the Adelaide Amateur Musical Union as an orchestra in 1872 and was its conductor until 1879, succeeded by W. R. Pybus. The group disbanded in 1881 when the Philharmonic Society was revived under Pybus. He was, as Lieutenant Oughton, bandmaster of Adelaide's Volunteer Militia/ Adelaide Military Band, which made its first public appearance with him as conductor, at the Town Hall in July 1878, and regularly played at the rotunda (still standing) in
Elder Park. He brought the band to such a level of competence that when he took the band to Melbourne in November 1886 it was recognised as possibly the best in Australia. Around December 1886 he resigned from the Militia Band, and left South Australia for New South Wales, where he was employed by their Public Service. He returned to Adelaide suffering ill health and paralysed in 1895, and lived bed-bound with his daughter and son-in-law in
Flinders Street, where he died. ==Family==