Born 2 January 1790, he was the only child of Thomas Hughes, D.D., deputy clerk of the closet to George III and George IV, vicar of Uffington, Berkshire, and canon of St. Paul's Cathedral, by his wife Mary Anne, daughter of the Rev.
George Watts, vicar of Uffington; she was an early friend of Sir Walter Scott.
John Hughes was educated at Westminster School and at Oriel College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A.
[1] About 1820 Hughes went to live at Uffington, but on the death of his father, thirteen years later, moved to Donnington Priory, Berkshire.
[1] Views in the South of France (1825) engraved by William Bernard Cooke contained illustrations after sketches made by Hughes.