Richard “Dick” HUGHES C.B.E. (aka "The Cardinal") [1906-1984]

Submitted by essarem on
Names
Title
Your Grace
Given
Richard “Dick”
Family
Hughes C.B.E.
Alias / nickname
"The Cardinal"
Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
Born
Date
Birthplace (town, state)
Melbourne
Birthplace (country)
Australia
Died
Date
Died in (town, state)
Hong Kong
Died in (country)
B.C.C.Hong Kong
Cause of death
Liver complaint

Australian author, journalist, and long-term resident of Hong Kong.

Major biographical works:

Hughes, Richard, Foreign Devil: Thirty Years of Reporting in the Far East, Andre Deutsch Limited, London 1972.

Macswan, Norman, The Man Who Read the East Wind: A Biography of Richard Hughes Extraordinary Correspondent, Kangaroo Press, Sydney 1982.

Photos that show this Person

1959 - Dick Hughes with Ian Fleming.
1959
1959 - Hughes & Maugham together in Japan
1959
1968 - author, Dick Hughes.
1968

Comments

He is commemorated in the Hughes Room, the larger of the function rooms at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong (where he was President and a long-term stalwart).

Some mention should be made of 'Borrowed Place, Borrowed Time', Hughes' excellent short account of living in HK from the 60s through the 70s. Wonderful title. It's been some time since I read it but it helps explain why so many visitors like Ian Fleming thought it useful to consult Hughes  when writing about this city back then.

Throughout the 1960’s my father, Hong Kong merchant Paul D. Alderton, belonged to a sociable club that satirically called itself “Alcoholics Synonymous”. The club had its own tie, featuring a multitude of foaming beer mugs underlined by the roman numerals XV1, which were dotted over a purple ground. I recall how, during the mid-1960’s, “A.S.” was seemingly centred around the genial figure of Dick Hughes, the doyen of the Hong Kong foreign press corps at the time. This group of “dedicated talkers, drinkers and gourmets”, limited to sixteen members but welcoming invited guests, met every Saturday morning for the purpose of “alleviating the cares of the past week”. The members, mainly journalists, businessmen, and diplomats, took turns at being chairman, so that each member’s turn came up in rotation once every sixteen weeks. One eminent guest, the Australian author and journalist, Frank Clune, noted that “the catch is that the chairman has to shout drinks for the mob.” Each meeting was scheduled to start at 11 a.m. and improbably end when the chairman for the week called for the last drink at 11.45. In practice though, the socializing for some members often continued on in an informal manner into lunch and, sometimes, well beyond. 

William Craw character based on Richard Hughes and Rockhurst, the policeman, was P.J. O'Byrne, (ex Palestine Police and Hong Kong Police) who was working in Police Public Information Bureau - PPIB (later PPRB) and frequented old FCC where he was a crony of Hughes. They entertained LeCarre in the 1970's HK visits.

My husband Alan Thomas headed up Reuters at the time and was a great friend and sycophant of Dick Hughes. He took me to meet him at a lunch at the Hilton to get his approval - which I hadn't realised at the time - but afterwards he beamed and said Dickie liked me... so that was alright then! We had a good and lengthy relationship and I have various notes and cards etc plus of course a dedicated copy of BPBT. A great man with an amazing capacity both for intelligence and booze! 

The 'China Rhyming' blog identifies the batsman in the photo on the cover of BPBT: 'But I’m indebted to Stephen Hutcheon (who follows me on instagram as Lewgus – I am oldshanghaipaul by the way and do feel free to follow for old China images every day) who informs me that the gentleman swinging for a six there in the excellent cover photo is the late Cathay Pacific pilot Captain Charles “Chic” Eather.'

The 1976 revised version uses a very similar cover photo showing a cricket match at the same location but seemingly with a different group of players.