Joshua Hughes

Who was Joshua Hughes?

Joshua Hughes was Bishop of St Asaph, an Anglican diocese in Wales, United Kingdom.

Hughes was educated at Cardigan and Ystradmeurig grammar schools and at St David's College, Lampeter, where he was placed in the first class in the examinations every year and gained prizes for Latin and Welsh essays. After ordination he served curacies in Aberystwyth and Carmarthen before becoming the vicar of the nearby village of Abergwili in 1837. He then become the vicar of Llandovery in 1846. During this time, he also returned to Lampeter to complete a second degree, a Bachelor of Divinity, in 1867.

In 1870, William Ewart Gladstone was seeking to fill the vacant bishopric of St Asaph. One of his criteria was that the new bishop would be Welsh-speaking. After consulting with Connop Thirlwall, the position was offered to Hughes. Despite being regarded by many as underqualified, the appointment was soon justified. He was particularly efficient at appointing Welsh speaking vicars into bilingual churches and thus promoting the church amongst Welsh-monoglots. He was also a staunch supporter of the developing movement for promoting higher education in Wales, initially hoping that his alma mater, St David's College, would become the centre of a Welsh university.