Arthur Wellesley Hughes

Arthur Wellesley Hughes (8 April 1863;18 April 1937) was a Canadian musician and composer. Possibly born in Kingston, Ontario (although his WW1 papers consistently list his birthplace as either Bloomington or Birmingham Illinois, he separated from his family at a young age, spending many years in the United States as an itinerant circus musician. He was a performer on piano, calliope, and alto horn. He enlisted for WW1 service in Toronto in 1915, claiming a date of birth of 1873, but was discharged as medically unfit in 1916 and his age is then noted as 53.5 years. He served as a bandmaster for the 76th Batallion. His circus associations on record include: Mighty Haag Circus, Downie & Wheeler Circus (1912); Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus (1922); Sells-Floto Circus (1923); and Ringling Bros & Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows (1924–26). He was with Robbins Bros. Circus (1928–29) whence his Robbins Bros. Triumphal March arose, and Miller Bros. 101 Ranch Wild West Show, and Walter L. Main Circus (1930–31). Hughes worked as composer and arranger for the Waterloo Music Company of Waterloo, Ontario, from 1932 to 1935. At other times, Hughes worked as arranger in the Whaley, Royce and Cundy-Betton