25 September 1862
William Morris Hughes Birth
Born in London on 25 September 1862, the son of a Welsh carpenter, William Hughes, and his wife Jane, nee Morris. (Langmore).
1869
Mother’s death
Mother Jane, nee Morris, a farmer’s daughter from Montgomeryshire dies when William Morris Hughes, her only child, was seven. (Langmore) Billy is sent to live with his father’s sister (Aunt Mary) at Llandudno, Noth Wales. Langmore. Attends McLaughlan’s School at Bondlondeb Hill and then Llandudno Grammar School in Cwlach Street. Dr George Roberts is the ‘despotic principal’, (Fricke p.12.)
1874
Returns to London
Billy Hughes enrolled St Stephen’s School, Westminster, becoming a pupil teacher two years later and eventually an assistant teacher. (Diane Langmore Prime Ministers’ Wives p. 3 Kindle Edition). Lodges Ponsonby Terrace, Vauxhall. (Fricke p.14,)
1884
Emigrates to Australia
Hughes migrates to colonial Queensland in 1884. “After working as a drover, boundary-rider, tally-clerk, nawy, grape-picker, blacksmith’s striker, factory worker, farmhand, saddler and cook, Hughes travelled to Sydney as a galley’hand on a coastal vessel. He found work as an assistant to an oven-maker and, aged about twenty-six, settled down in a boarding house at Moore Park.” Langmore
1887
Meets Elizabeth Cutts
Billy Hughes meets Elizabeth Cutts mother of an infant son, Arthur, and bearing Billy six children.Prime Ministers’ Wives (p. 4). Kindle Edition.
1890
Moves to Balmain after first child Ethel’s birth
“After the birth of their first child, Ethel, they moved in 1890 to a small weather- board building in Beattie Street, Balmain, where Will, as she called him, opened a small mixed shop, perhaps with money which she provided. Struggling to make ends meet, he also did odd jobs and mended umbrellas while Elizabeth cleaned and took in washing to supplement their meagre income.” Langmore
1891
Birth & death of 2nd Child
“In May 1891 a second child, William, was born but died, aged twelve months, and was buried in Rookwood Cemetery. Four more children – Lily, Dolly, Ernest and Charles were born at two yearly intervals.” Langmore