A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Hughs, Mary
HUGHS, MARY,
Formerly Robson, was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She married Mr. Thomas Hughs, a native of Dundee, in Scotland. Within the year after their marriage, 1818, they emigrated to America, and almost immediately on their arrival, Mrs. Hughs, with the active and efficient assistance of her husband, and under the patronage of the well-known philanthropist John Vaughan, Esq., commenced a school for young ladies in Philadelphia, and it is believed few undertakings 'ever rose more rapidly into popularity, as many of the mothers of the present generation, in the most distinguished families in the city, can testify. After having continued their establishment in the same house in which it was commenced, for twenty-one years, Mr. and Mrs. Hughs purchased a farm in the neighbourhood of Doylestown, Bucks County, to which they retired. Before leaving England Mrs. Hughs had written a number of juvenile books of much merit—"Aunt Mary's Tales;" "Ornaments Discovered;" "Stories for Children;" "Metamorphosis;" and "The Alchemist." On reaching the United States, Mrs. Hughs was most agreeably surprised and gratified to find that her books had been republished there, and were very popular. These works were her letters of introduction, and thus her success in her school was secured. Mrs. Hughs has contributed to several American periodicals, and written "Emma Mortimer;" "The two Schools;" "Julia Ormond;" "Buds and Blossoms;" and "The Ivy Wreath."