Mary Vivian Hughes

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Mary Vivian Hughes (October 2, 1866-1956) was a British educator and author. The daughter of a London stockbroker, she was born Molly Thomas and passed most of her childhood in Canonbury, under the watchful eyes of four older brothers. After her father's unexpected death in 1879, she attended the North London Collegiate School (1883-85), then under the leadership of the formidable pioneer Frances Mary Buss. She matriculated at a Cambridge teachers' training college (the nucleus of the future Hughes Hall) in 1885. After completing two terms of coursework and teaching for several years, Thomas took her B.A. in 1890. As head of the training department at Bedford College from 1892 until 1897, she played an important role in expanding and rationalizing the teacher training curriculum. Molly Thomas married barrister Arthur Hughes in 1897, after an engagement of nearly ten years; they had one daughter and three sons. After her husband's death c. 1919, she returned to work as an educational inspector. Her first book, About England, was published in 1927. She died in South Africa in 1956.

Hughes is best known for a series of four lively memoirs, A London Child of the 1870s, A London Girl of the 1880s, A London Home in the 1890s, and A London Family Between the Wars. Hughes's stated purpose in these books is "to show that Victorian children did not have such a dull time as is usually supposed." Her books are a valuable source on women's education and women's work in the late Victorian period; in particular, A London Girl of the 1880s provides an unparalleled portrait of life in a Victorian women's college. Some of Hughes's books are illustrated by her own drawings and her brother Charles's paintings.

[edit] Published Works

• About England (1927)
• America's England (1930)
• London at Home (1931)
• City Saints (1932)
• A London Child of the 1870s (1934)
• Vivians (1935)
• A London Girl of the 1880s (1936)
• A London Home in the 1890s (1937)
• A London Family Between the Wars (1940)
• From Baptism to Holy Communion: Lessons on the Church Catechism (1951)