Thomas Hughes (priest, born 1818) explained

Honorific Prefix:Reverend
Thomas Hughes
Years Active:1859 - 1876
Occupation:priest
Spouse:Ann (née Tonks)
Father:Thomas Hughes
Website:Diary of Thomas Hughes
Religion:Christian
Church:Anglican Church of Canada
Ordained:11 December 1859
by Isaac Hellmuth
Writings:Diary (1861 - 1873)
Congregations:Dresden, Ontario

Dawn Mills, Ontario

  • Kent Bridge, Ontario

  • Township of Chatham
    • Offices Held:Rural dean of Kent.
    Inspector of schools for townships of Camden and Zone.
    Trustee of the British-American Institute.

    Thomas Hughes (1818 - 1876) was an Anglican minister and abolitionist from Walsall, Staffordshire, who moved to Dresden in Canada West in 1859 to establish a mission school and mission church in the newly established Diocese of Huron.

    He ministered to several congregations, and was appointed as a rural dean, an inspector of township schools, and a trustee of the British-American Institute, befriending Josiah Henson, its principal founder.

    His diary provides insights into the abolitionist culture of 19th-century Dresden.

    Biography

    Early life

    Thomas Hughes was born in Walsall, Staffordshire, in 1818.[1] In 1842, he married Anne Tonks.[2] In their marriage certificate,[3] his profession is given as schoolmaster, and his father's, file-maker. From the mid-1850s, Hughes taught at Queen Mary's Grammar School in Walsall.[4] The 1851 census records a family of five children.[5]

    Life in Canada

    London

    In 1856, Hughes moved to Canada to teach at a pioneering integrated school in London, Canada West,[6] established in 1854 by the Colonial Church and School Society, the missionary arm of the Anglican faith. The school was noted as "flourishing" by the examining chaplain to the bishop of the diocese,[7] though its rationale had earlier been questioned by the Provincial Freeman, an Afro-Canadian, abolitionist newspaper.[8]

    While in London, Hughes studied for Anglican holy orders under the guidance of then Archdeacon Isaac Hellmuth and the Right Reverend Benjamin Cronyn, first bishop of the Diocese of Huron. He was ordained as a deacon on 28 September 1858 and as a priest on 11 December 1859.[9]

    By the late 1850s, public schools in London had become open to both Black and white pupils. Following requests by William P. Newman, a Black Baptist pastor and abolitionist, and other Black leaders, the Society decided to close its London school and open a mission in Dresden, where schools remained segregated. Hughes accepted the new posting, and accompanied by Jemima Williams, an English schoolteacher working in the London mission, moved to Dresden with his family in 1859.[10]

    Dresden

    Soon after Hughes' arrival in Dresden, he began to hold services in the town hall of nearby Dawn Mills.[11] In Dresden, though, he encountered resistance from those in charge of places suitable for public worship (such as the school for white children), while white property-owners refused to sell him a building-lot. He had to use a room above a grocery store.

    In 1860, Hughes bought a farm lying between Dawn Mills and Dresden from William P. Newman, who had left Canada the year before. After Jemima Williams' death that same year, Alfred Whipper, a brother of William Whipper, a leading Black businessman, was appointed as teacher in her place. Shortly after, Isaac Hellmuth inspected the Dresden mission, reporting that: In the Society's report for 1860 - 61, Hughes was commended for his missionary work: "The Reports of preceding years, and the following statements of the missionary, will supply all needful information respecting this station and the labors of the Rev. T. Hughes. He has most satisfactorily filled the position assigned to him by the Society, and has won the esteem and confidence of the Committee and friends in Canada." The 1861 census records an expanding Hughes family.[12] [13]

    Parker T. Smith, carpenter, pharmacist and one-time president of the Banneker Institute, a literary society in Philadelphia, lived with his family in Dresden in 1861/62. Together with Hughes, he established a literary and debating society, the Dresden Mutual Improvement Association.[14] [15] Smith recounted his experiences in letters published in the Christian Recorder, describing Hughes as "A gentleman of distinguished ability and learning as a theologian",[16] and "An untiring advocate of the equality of man, and knows no complexional distinction".[17]

    In 1863, Kent County was divided for the first time into different school inspectorates, and Hughes was appointed the inspector for the townships of Camden and Zone. He was later ordained as the rural dean of Kent.

    In the mid-1860s, Hughes and his congregation erected a church using raw materials from Hughes' farmland.[18] [19] Now called Christ Church Anglican, it was first known as the "Episcopal Mission Church to the Freed Population of Canada".[20] In 1868, Hughes became a member of the board of trustees of the British-American Institute.

    Death

    After a two-week illness, Thomas Hughes died in Dresden on 12 April 1876 from "general congestion from cold".[21] He was buried in Dresden cemetery in the racially integrated Anglican section  -  the riverside "Anglican range"  -  which he had himself established. His will was proved and registered at Kent County's surrogate court and its administration granted to Hughes' executors, his sons Thomas and William.[22] Probate was granted in England later that year,[23] with the value of his estate given as "under £450".

    Letters and diary

    Each year, Hughes wrote a letter to his employer, the Colonial Church and School Society. The letters were published in the Society's annual reports.[24] He also kept a diary of his doings and reflections from 1861 to 1873.[25]

    Recognition

    Rev. Hughes was a great friend of Josiah Henson, who wrote a tribute to him in the second version of his autobiography.[26]

    Memorials

    The memorial plaque in Christ Church Anglican, the church he established, reads:

    Further reading

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: 1851 England Census, Enumeration District 1db . Class: HO107; Piece: 2023; Folio: 150; Page: 6; GSU roll: 87428-87429. See Household schedule number 240 (lines 1016), where Hughes' age is stated as 33. . 1851 . 29 June 2024 . The National Archives. Ancestry.com.
    2. News: The Birmingham Journal. 31 December 1842. p. 7 col. 5 para. 12. Marriages. subscription. 6 March 2024.
    3. Thomas Hughes and Ann Tonks: Web site: Certified copy of an entry of marriage given at the General Register Office. 16 July 2024. 23 December 1842. General Register Office. Southport. Internet Archive.
    4. Web site: The Diary of Thomas Hughes. c. 2010. Huron University College.
    5. Web site: 1851 England Census, Enumeration District 1db . Class: HO107; Piece: 2023; Folio: 150; Page: 6; GSU roll: 87428-87429. See Household schedule number 240 (lines 1016), where Hughes' age is stated as 33. . 1851 . 29 June 2024 . The National Archives. Ancestry.com.
    6. Cooper . J.I. . 1954 . The Mission to the Fugitive Slaves at London . Ontario History . 46 . Spring, 1954 . 131 - 139 . [The mission] continued for at least three years more, that is until the summer of 1859. During this period, the principals were Miss Williams [Jemima Williams], Hurst, and a new master, Thomas Hughes. . 138 . Internet Archive.
    7. Web site: Mission to the Free Colored Population in Canada: Occasional Paper No. IV. Henry James. Grasett. West London Branch of the Colonial Church and School Society. I am very happy indeed to hear so favorable a report of your progress, and that your schools are in so flourishing a condition.. 4. London, England. 1855. 26 September 2024. Internet Archive.
    8. https://news.ourontario.ca/abolition/3942215/page/3?n= "Church of England Mission to the Colored People of Canada"
    9. Web site: Ruggle's Directory : Anglican clergy of Upper Canada / Canada West / Ontario. p. 410: entry for "Hughes, Thomas, 1818-76". 28 January 2021. Project Canterbury. 2 March 2024.
    10. Book: Reid-Maroney, Nina . [{{GBurl|_ZGJN8qkqpwC|p=34}} The Reverend Jennie Johnson and African-Canadian History, 1868-1967 ]. University of Rochester Press . Rochester, NY . 2013 . 978-1-580-46447-5 . 805048370 . 10.7722/j.ctt2jbm4t.7 . . Chapter 2: 'As Lively Stones' : Abolitionist Culture in Johnson's Dresden.
    11. Book: Elgie , Kae . This Land: The Story of Two Hundred Acres in Kent County, Ontario. 2019. Fountain Street Press. Waterloo, Ontario. 978-0-981-27763-9. 1137041974.
    12. Web site: Canada West Census 1861, Enumeration District Three of Camden & Gore Townships in the County of Kent . Page 51 (microfilm C-1038-1039), lines 47-50 . 1955 . 1861 . 4 March 2024 . Library and Archives Canada.
    13. Web site: Canada West Census 1861, Enumeration District Three of Camden & Gore Townships in the County of Kent . Page 52 (microfilm C-1038-1039), lines 1-5 . 1955 . 1861 . 4 March 2024 . Library and Archives Canada.
    14. Book: Reid-Maroney, Nina . de B'béri. Boulou Ebanda . Reid-Maroney . Nina . Wright . Handel Kashope . The Promised Land: History and Historiography of the Black Experience in Chatham-Kent's Settlements and Beyond . . 116 - 117 . Chapter 6: 'A Contented Mind is a Continual Feast': Tracing Intellectual Migrations through the Promised Land . 2014 . 978-1-442-66746-4 . 870562407. 10.3138/9781442667457-007 . Toronto . amp.
    15. News: Letter from Canada. Smith. Parker T.. 26 October 1861. The Christian Recorder. p. 166 cols. 5 & 6. We have a literary association in full blast. Philadelphia. African Methodist Episcopal Church. Internet Archive. 5 March 2024.
    16. News: Letter from Canada West. Smith. Parker T.. 10 August 1861. The Christian Recorder. p. 122 cols. 5 & 6. Philadelphia. African Methodist Episcopal Church. Internet Archive. 5 March 2024.
    17. News: Letter from Canada. Smith. Parker T.. 7 September 1861. The Christian Recorder. p. 138 cols. 4 & 5. Philadelphia. African Methodist Episcopal Church. Internet Archive. 5 March 2024.
    18. Web site: The spirits of Christmas past at Christ Church, Dresden. 31 January 2024. para 2. Diocese of Huron. 6 July 2024.
    19. Thomas Hughes and Christ Church Anglican . video . Discovering Dawn . 1 . Bernard . Jackie (host) . Carter . Marie . & . Ontario Heritage Trust . 2 February 2022 . YouTube . 26 February 2024.
    20. Web site: The Chatham-Kent Municipal Heritage Register : Listed Properties in the Community of Dresden : 350 St George Street South. 15. 6 July 2021. 5 July 2024. Municipality of Chatham-Kent.
    21. Web site: Registrations of Deaths, 1869-1942 (MS 935, reels 1-694). Filmstrip for county of Kent 1876, division of Dresden; image 21, col. no. 9 (upper); ref. 005947 . Archives of Ontario. Toronto. 1992. 1876. Ancestry.com.
    22. Web site: Registration document and annexed copy of 'Last will and testament of Thomas Hughes late of the village of Dresden [dated 26 October 1875]']. Ontario. Kent County Surrogate Court. 25 April 1876. 10 July 2024. Internet Archive.
    23. Web site: Letters of Administration, with the Will annexed, of the personal Estate of The Reverend Thomas Hughes. London, England. Principal Registry of the Probate Division of the High Court of Justice. 23 August 1876. 10 July 2024. Internet Archive.
    24. Web site: Finding Christ Church : Primary Source Archive : CCSS reports. 18 May 2019. Huron University College (using Internet Archive). London, Ontario. 22 January 2024. See Dresden or Rev. Hughes sections in: "Mission to [the] Fugitive Slaves in Canada" reports for 1859, 185960, 18601, 18612, 18623, and 18634, and "Mission to the Coloured Population of Canada, Late Fugitive Slave Mission" reports for 1865, 1866, 1867, and 1869.
    25. Web site: The Diary of Thomas Hughes. Phantoms of the Past: Slavery, Resistance, and Memory in the Atlantic World. Huron University College. London, Ontario. c. 2011. 21 January 2024.
    26. Web site: 'Uncle Tom's story of his life' : an autobiography of the Rev. Josiah Henson (Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe's 'Uncle Tom') : from 1789 to 1876 . Henson . Josiah . Josiah Henson . 1876. Lobb. John . Internet Archive . Christian Age Office. London . 200 - 203. 28 December 2023 . 200. For sixteen or seventeen years he worked most zealously as a missionary in Canada ; he was always my devoted friend[.].

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