He emigrated to South Australia aboard Delhi, arriving in December 1839,[1] and built a residence at Brougham Place, North Adelaide.
He served for a time as clerk to solicitor James Hurtle Fisher, and was highly involved in all manner of public institutions: He was a founder of the Adelaide Lodge of IOOF on 1 January 1841[2] and their first Corresponding Secretary.
Hughes did not apply for his old job, and the newly appointed City Treasurer Thomas Worsnop was deputised to take on his duties pro tem.
[9] This voluntary resignation came as a surprise to many, but then the truth came to light, largely due to the conscientiousness of mayor Fuller, that Hughes had been in 1866 and 1867 embezzling Council funds by clever manipulation of the cheque account, which could only be detected by careful comparison of the amount withdrawn and that written on the chequebook stubs.
The truth came to light through Hughes's method of repaying the defalcations; by destroying cheques and paying creditors cash out of his own pocket.