[1] Hughes was a squatter and large landowner and stockholder at Gowrie Station on the Darling Downs, in what is now Queensland.
In 1848, along with a colleague, Isaac, he purchased "Westbrook" in addition to his existing landholding; it was transferred to him alone in 1850.
He had strongly advocated the importation of convicts into Moreton Bay, having gone so far as to travel to England to wait upon the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
[10] In April 1853, it was reported that he had sold "Westbrook" to John Donald McLean and was intending to leave for England in the following year, with it uncertain as to whether he would return.
[11] In 1858, he was reported to have been one of a number of Queensland figures in London lobbying the English government for separation from New South Wales.