Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

f , m - :,■ ■ 0 -0 ..." .-,- jp g, ■ tj.,-i.;. .-■'*'■ %\\ JB*ntMg Sutinja: A RECORD OF CHRISTIAN WORK AMONG THE CaMnistic Methodists or Presbyterians of Wales. Vol. II. No. 6.] JUNE, 1886. [Price One Penny. THE LATE MR. CHARLES HUGHES, J.P., BRYNHYFRYD, WREXHAM. We regret to have to direct the attention of onr readers to the death of Mr. Charles Hughes, J.P., Brynhyfryd, Wrexham, whose portrait adorn onr present issue. The Hughes's family come of noble descent, being able to trace back their ancestry to one of the royal princes of North Wales. They have been connected with Calvinistic Methodism from an early date in its his¬ tory ; first in Llanarmon- Dyffryn-Ceiriog, where we find Richard Hughes, of Sarffle, the great-grand-father of the subject of this notice, opening his house for preach¬ ing, in spite of persecution, and affording protection and assistance to the cause of God ; afterwards in Adwy'rclawdd, where the late Rev. John Hughes, of Liverpool, began to preach ; and, last of all, in Wrexham, where, for sixty years, the Hugheses have de¬ votedly cared for and helped to sustain the Lord's work. Mr. Charles Hughes's father —Mr. Richard Hughes, the founder of the pub¬ lishing house of Hughes & Son, Wrexham, — was noted for his decision of cha¬ racter, his marked gentleness and gentlemanliness, and his great faithfulness as a deacon of the Welsh church. Of his mother we read in "The History of Calvinistic Methodism in Wrexham," that " she adorned the re¬ ligion she professed, and died in the hope of the Gospel." Mr. Charles Hughes Was born in Wrexham, March 3rd, 1823, and nur¬ tured in a tender and strictly religious family, surrounded by all the best inftu- f. ences of Methodism. He began early to qualify himself for a life of usefulness, and continued in active service to life's close. At the age of fourteen, we find him Sec¬ retary of Abbot Street Welsh Chapel Sunday School, which was then held on the Sabbath morning; and in the after¬ noon he accompanied his father as a teacher to Rhostyllen, a distance of two miles. Not long afterwards he became a prominent member of a Mutual Improve- ment Society conducted by Glan Alun and the Rev. Mr. Pearce, the then min¬ ister of the old English Presbyterian Church. In order to master the whole mystery of the pub¬ lishing business, he served for four years in the firm of Messrs. Simpkin & Marshall, and upon his return to Wrex¬ ham considerably extended his father's business, more particularly in the publishing department, who at that time was busily engaged in issuing Dr. Lewis's Commen¬ tary, and the works of his uncle, Rev. John Hughes. He built up the publishing business of Hughes & Son from its very foundation, and did it in a way that the name of the firm is respected wher¬ ever known, and in a way*!-to confer lasting benefits upon Wales. - , All through his life Mr. Hughes closely identified him¬ self with matters of public in¬ terest, and often did good ser¬ vice to his native town and the Principality. He signed the pledge when eleven years of age, and when in his prime took a warm interest in Tem¬ perance work. The important subject of Peace also secured in him an ardent disciple and a persuasive advocate. So highly were his services in this direction valued that he was sent to the International Peace Congress about the year 1848. His interest in education (upon which he was an unquestionable authority) was deep and lasting. H9 was an active man¬ ager of the Wrexham British Schools for over thirty years, and was chairman of the Wrexham School Board from its (Continued on Page 85.)