He was born in
Sydney to merchant
John Hughes and Susan Sharkey. He was the elder brother of
Sir Thomas Hughes. From 1870 he was educated at
Stonyhurst College in
Lancashire, and in 1876 he graduated from the
University of London. He returned to Sydney and worked as a solicitor's clerk before his admission as a practising solicitor in 1884. On 2 July 1884 he married Mary Rose Gillhooley, with whom he had nine children. From 1887 he partnered with his brother, and he was also a landowner. ==Political career==