Editing Billy Hughes (section)

==Early years==
===Birth and family background===
[[File:Young Billy Hughes.jpg|thumb|upright|An [[Breeching (boys)|unbreeched]] Hughes at about the age of four]]
Hughes was born on 25 September 1862,<ref name=adb/> at 7 Moreton Place, [[Pimlico]], London, the son of William Hughes and the former Jane Morris. His parents were both Welsh. His father, who worked as a carpenter and joiner at the [[Palace of Westminster]], was from North Wales{{Efn|He was either from [[Holyhead]], [[Anglesey]], or from the [[Vale of Clwyd]] in [[Denbighshire]].}} and was a fluent [[Welsh language|Welsh]] speaker.{{sfn|Fitzhardinge|1964|p=1}} His mother, a domestic servant, was from the small village of [[Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain]] (near the English border), and spoke only English. Hughes was an [[only child]]; at the time of their marriage, in June 1861, his parents were both 37 years old.{{sfn|Fitzhardinge|1964|p=2}}

===Wales===
Hughes's mother died in May 1869, when he was six years old. His father subsequently sent him to be raised by relatives in Wales. During the school term, he lived with his father's sister, Mary Hughes, who kept a boarding house in [[Llandudno]] named "Bryn Rosa". He earned pocket money by doing chores for his aunt's tenants and singing in the choir at the local church. Hughes began his formal education in Llandudno, attending two small single-teacher schools.{{sfn|Fitzhardinge|1964|p=3}} He spent his holidays with his mother's family in Llansantffraid. There, he divided his time between "Winllan", the farm of his widowed aunt (Margaret Mason), and "Plas Bedw", the neighbouring farm of his grandparents (Peter and Jane Morris).{{sfn|Fitzhardinge|1964|p=4}}

Hughes regarded his early years in Wales as the happiest time of his life.{{sfn|Fitzhardinge|1964|p=4}} He was immensely proud of his Welsh identity, and he later became active in the [[Welsh Australian]] community, frequently speaking at [[Saint David's Day]] celebrations.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hughes|first=Aneurin|author-link=Aneurin Hughes|date=2005|title=Billy Hughes, Prime Minister and Controversial Founding Father of the Australian Labor Party|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]| page=34|isbn=9781740311366}}</ref> Hughes called Welsh the "language of heaven", but his own grasp of it was patchy. Like many of his contemporaries, he had no formal schooling in Welsh, and had particular difficulties with spelling. Nonetheless, he received and replied to correspondence from Welsh-speakers throughout his political career, and as prime minister famously traded insults in Welsh with [[David Lloyd George]].<ref>Hughes (2005), p. 34.</ref>

===London===
At the age of eleven, Hughes was enrolled in St Stephen's School, [[Westminster]], one of the many church schools established by the philanthropist [[Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts]]. He won prizes in geometry and French, receiving the latter from [[Dudley Ryder, 2nd Earl of Harrowby|Lord Harrowby]]. After finishing his elementary schooling, he was apprenticed as a "[[Monitorial System|pupil-teacher]]" for five years, instructing younger students for five hours a day in exchange for personal lessons from the headmaster and a small stipend.{{sfn|Fitzhardinge|1964|p=5}} At St Stephen's, Hughes came into contact with the poet [[Matthew Arnold]], who was an examiner and inspector for the local school district. Arnold – who coincidentally had holidayed at Llandudno – took a liking to Hughes, and gifted him a copy of the [[Complete Works of Shakespeare]]; Hughes credited Arnold with instilling his lifelong love of literature.{{sfn|Fitzhardinge|1964|p=9}}
[[File:Billy Hughes - Royal Fusiliers.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Hughes in his [[Royal Fusiliers]] uniform, c. 1880]]
After finishing his initial apprenticeship, Hughes stayed on at St Stephen's as a teaching assistant. He had no interest in teaching as a career though, and also declined Matthew Arnold's offer to secure him a clerkship at [[Coutts]].{{sfn|Fitzhardinge|1964|p=10}} His relative financial security allowed him to pursue his own interests for the first time, which included bellringing, boating on the Thames, and travel (such as a two-day trip to Paris). He also joined a volunteer battalion of the [[Royal Fusiliers]], which consisted mainly of artisans and white-collar workers.{{sfn|Fitzhardinge|1964|p=11}} In later life, Hughes recalled London as "a place of romance, mystery and suggestion".{{sfn|Fitzhardinge|1964|p=2}}