Background
Hughes, born in Maker Vicarage, Cornwall, was the fourth son of Sir Robert Hughes, third baronet, by his second wife, Bethia, daughter of Thomas Hiscutt, and was a nephew of Admiral Sir Richard Hughes. His father, who matriculated from Trinity College, Oxford, on 30 March 1757, aged 17, was a demy of Magdalen College 1758-1767, Bachelor of Arts 1761, Master of Arts