Dictionary of Welsh Biography logo
Timeline
Cymraeg
Home Browse Authors A-Z
PDF Print Cite

HUGHES, THOMAS MCKENNY (1832 - 1917), geologist

Name: Thomas Mckenny Hughes
Date of birth: 1832
Date of death: 1917
Spouse: Mary Caroline Hughes (née Weston)
Parent: Margaret Hughes (née McKenny)
Parent: Joshua Hughes
Gender: Male
Occupation: geologist
Area of activity: Nature and Agriculture; Science and Mathematics
Author: Frederick John North

Born at Aberystwyth, 17 December 1832, son of Joshua Hughes, afterwards bishop of St Asaph. Educated at Leamington, Llandovery, and Trinity College, Cambridge, [from which he matriculated in 1853, graduated in 1857, and proceeded M.A. 1867; in 1883 he became Fellow of Clare College.] He became secretary to the British consul at Rome, 1860-1, served on the Geological Survey 1861-73, and succeeded Adam Sedgwick as Woodwardian Professor of Geology at Cambridge in 1873, holding the office until 1917. He was elected vice-president of the Geological Society in 1862, F.R.S. in 1889, and was awarded the Lyell Medal by the Geological Society in 1891. His research publications (more than fifty) relate mainly to the pre-Cambrian and Palaeozoic rocks of Wales and the borders of Lakeland and to glacial and post-glacial phenomena and deposits. His most important research was done during the period of service with the Geological Survey and in the few years following his appointment at Cambridge, after which his professorial duties absorbed more and more of his time. Hughes did much to stimulate interest in geology by reason of his fluency as a lecturer, and his capacity for being on easy terms with both junior and senior members of the university. He married, 1882, Mary Caroline, daughter of canon G. F. Weston. He died at Cambridge, 9 June 1917.

Author

Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/

PDF Print Cite

The Dictionary of Welsh Biography is provided by The National Library of Wales and the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies. It is free to use and does not receive grant support. A donation would help us maintain and improve the site so that we can continue to acknowledge Welsh men and women who have made notable contributions to life in Wales and beyond.

Find out more on our sponsorship page.

Donate