Arthur St George Joseph McCarthy Huggett, 1897-1968

Abstract

Arthur St George J oseph McCarthy Huggett, known to all his friends as Hugo, was born in what is now North Kensington on 23 April 1897, the only son of Arthur Henry Richard Huggett and his wife Helen Mary. He had one younger sister. His father was a Lecturer in Botany at the Goldsmiths’ College and came of Kent and Norfolk stock. His mother was a McCarthy from the west of Ireland and came from the landed gentry. Only one of his forebears is known to have achieved distinction in science or the public service, a great-grand-uncle who pioneered the overland camel route between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, on the way to India before the Suez Canal was made. His mother was an intelligent and public- spirited woman who was 39 years old when she married. She had been educated in France and Germany and was a prolific reader, interested particularly in history and politics. In Ireland, before her marriage, she had been an active supporter of Home Rule and afterwards was an early member of the Suffragette movement, speaking several times a week at street-corner meetings. During the First World War, when the battle for women’s suffrage had been largely won, she joined the Labour Party, a courageous act in those days for a woman in her position. She became a member of the Kingston Board of Guardians in 1918, being specially interested in the problem of unmarried mothers and their children. She was greatly concerned with the welfare of others and indifferent to her personal comfort. Her husband, though not always agreeing with her views, gave her support and sympathy in her undertakings. Theirs was a happy home and they both made great sacrifices, especially during the war years, to enable their son to complete his medical education. Hugo was brought up in this environment in the Roman Catholic faith, which he later formally renounced.