Hugh Conway

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This article is about the English novelist. For the Irish politician, see Hugh Conway (Lord Treasurer).

Hugh Conway the nom-de-plume of Frederick John Fargus (26 December 1847 - 15 May 1885) was an English novelist, born in Bristol, the son of an auctioneer. He was intended for his fathers business, but at the age of thirteen joined the training-ship Conway in the Mersey. In deference to his fathers wishes, however, he gave up the idea of becoming a sailor, and returned to Bristol, where he was articled to a firm of accountants until on his fathers death in 1868 he took over the family business. While a clerk he had written the words for various songs, adopting the nom-de-plume Hugh Conway in memory of his days on the training-ship. Mr Arrowsmith, the Bristol printer and publisher, took an interest in his work, and Fargus' first short story appeared in Arrowsmiths Miscellany. In 1883 Fargus published through Arrowsmith his first long story, Called Back, of which over 350,000 copies were sold within four years. A dramatic version of this book was produced in London in 1884, and in this year Fargus published another story, Dark Days. Ordered to the Riviera for his health, he caught typhoid fever, and died in Monte Carlo. Several other books from his pen appeared posthumously, notably A Family Affair.