Early life Richard Hughes was born in 1708, the son of
Captain Richard Hughes, who was
Resident Commissioner, Portsmouth Dockyard, and Governor of the
Royal Naval Academy, and his wife Mary Loader, at
Deptford. The Hughes family were descended from the Princes of
Cardigan in the
Kingdom of Gwent, and had changed the family surname from Ap Hughes to Hughes in the 1600s. He had one brother,
Robert, who would become a
rear-admiral in the
Royal Navy. Hughes also joined the navy, becoming a volunteer on board the 60-gun
fourth-rate HMS Nottingham on 26 August 1721.
Nottingham was commanded by his father, and served in the
Baltic Fleet of
Admiral Sir John Norris.
First services Hughes stayed in
Nottingham only briefly, moving in the same rank to the 80-gun
ship of the line HMS Chichester on 20 September when his father was given command of her. He served in
Chichester, also in the Baltic Fleet, until 23 June of the following year when he was made an
able seaman on board the 50-gun fourth rate
HMS Leopard, which was serving in home waters. Hughes was then promoted to
midshipman in the 70-gun ship of the line
HMS Edinburgh, also commanded by his father, on 13 July 1723 and passed his examination for his
lieutenancy on 18 December 1725. Throughout this time
Edinburgh served as the
guardship at Blackstakes,
Kent. Hughes was promoted to lieutenant on 28 July 1726 and posted to the 70-gun ship of the line
HMS Grafton to serve as that ship's fourth lieutenant in the Baltic. He was advanced to become
Graftons third lieutenant on 20 April 1727 and then on 26 July 1728 transferred to the 80-gun ship of the line
HMS Cornwall when his father gained command of her, serving as that ship's second lieutenant on guardship duties at
the Nore. On 8 February 1729 he was moved to become
Cornwalls third lieutenant, before being translated into the 80-gun ship of the line
HMS Princess Amelia, the
flagship of
Vice-Admiral Sir George Walton in the
Mediterranean Fleet, as that ship's fourth lieutenant on 12 April. Hughes served in
Princess Amelia until 16 December and then went on a period of
half pay before joining his next ship, the 50-gun fourth rate
HMS Salisbury, on 4 February 1731.
Salisbury sailed to the
Newfoundland Station later in the year; Hughes served there as her second lieutenant until 8 May 1732 when he was advanced to become
first lieutenant of the 60-gun fourth rate
HMS Sunderland, guardship at
Sheerness. He became
Sunderlands second lieutenant on 15 February 1733. Hughes continued to serve as such in
Sunderland until 6 May 1735 when he became the sixth lieutenant of the 100-gun ship of the line
HMS Britannia, Norris's flagship off Lisbon. He stayed in
Britannia until 16 October and then went on an extended period of half pay. This ended on 12 June 1739 when he was appointed as the first lieutenant of the 90-gun ship of the line
HMS Namur, which was Norris's new flagship for service in home waters.
Command Hughes was promoted to
commander on 3 July and given command of the new 8-gun
fireship HMS Anne Galley, serving in the Mediterranean Fleet of Rear-Admiral
Nicholas Haddock as part of the
War of the Austrian Succession. On 24 October 1740 he was promoted to
post-captain and sent to command the 20-gun
frigate HMS Dursley Galley, also in the Mediterranean. He was employed in escorting the main fleet and in cruising short distances away from it on patrols, but the presence of the large fleet meant that French and Spanish ships refused to leave harbour, and
Dursley Galley found no action in this period. On 10 July 1741 he was briefly appointed as
acting Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth. Hughes was advanced to command the 40-gun frigate
HMS Faversham on 25 July 1742 and in August of that year was attached to a squadron under the command of
Commodore William Martin which sailed to
Naples and forced the country to confirm its neutrality in the conflict under the threat of bombardment and attack by the British. Hughes left
Faversham in August 1743 and in January 1744 sat as one of the presiding officers in the
court martial of Captain Richard Norris at
Mahon. He received his next command, still in the Mediterranean, on 1 April when he was given the 50-gun fourth rate
HMS Chatham, a ship that had been commanded by his father between 1706 and 1710. Hughes was given command of a small squadron off the coast of Italy, with which he protected trade and convoys going along the coast in support of the allied armies on land. On 18 August Hughes was moved to another ship of the fleet, the 70-gun ship of the line
HMS Essex, which he left on 25 October 1748 when she was put in for a
refit. His next command came on 10 January 1753 when he was given the newly
recommissioned 64-gun ship of the line
HMS Fougueux, a captured French vessel.
Fougueux was stationed as the guardship at
Portsmouth and was Hughes's last ship command.
Commissioner On 12 February 1754 Hughes was appointed as the Resident Commissioner at Portsmouth upon the retirement of his father from that same position. The historian
Daniel A. Baugh suggests that Hughes only embarked on a career at sea in order to qualify to eventually succeed his father at Portsmouth, comparing the Hughes family with the similar career paths of
Sir Richard Haddock and his son
Richard Haddock, both serving as
Comptroller of the Navy. Hughes continued at Portsmouth, highly successfully, until he retired from the navy, still a captain, on 25 August 1773. On 17 July that year, Hughes hosted
George III at a visit of the dockyard and in reward for this service of "great magnificence" he was made a
baronet. In retirement he was given a pension of £500 a year, dying at
Southampton on 23 September 1779, aged 71. ==Family==