William Bulkeley Hughes
Quick Facts
Biography
William Bulkeley Hughes (26 July 1797 – 8 March 1882) was a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons as a Conservative from 1837 to 1859, and as a Liberal from 1865 to 1882.
Hughes was the eldest son of Sir William Bulkeley Hughes of Plas Coch, Llanidan, Anglesey and Elizabeth, of Coed Alun, Caernarfon. He was educated at Harrow School and called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1825.
Hughes was elected Member of Parliament for Carnarvon Boroughs constituency as a Conservative in 1837 and held the seat until 1859. As a prospector in railway shares, he made significant gains in the 1840s, and organised a banquet given to Robert Stephenson to commemorate the opening of the Britannia Bridge in 1850. He was the chairperson of the Anglesey Central Railway from its founding until it was absorbed by the London and North Western Railway in 1876. He was justice of the peace of Anglesey and Caernarvonshire, and was High Sheriff of Anglesey in 1861.
Hughes was re-elected as MP for Carnarvon Boroughs as a Liberal in 1865 and held the seat until his death in 1882, aged 85. He is buried in the churchyard of St Edwen's Church, Llanedwen, Anglesey.
Hughes married first Elizabeth Wormald, daughter of Jonathan Nettleship of Mattersey Abbey near Bawtry and widow of Harry Wormald in 1825. He married second Elizabeth Donkin, daughter of William Donkin, in 1866.