Arthur Wellesley Hughes was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 musician and composer. Born in Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...

, he separated from his family at a young age, spending many years in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 as an itinerant circus

Circus

A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...

 musician. He was a performer on piano, calliope

Calliope (music)

A calliope is a musical instrument that produces sound by sending a gas, originally steam or more recently compressed air, through large whistles, originally locomotive whistles....

, and alto horn

Alto horn

The alto horn is a brass instrument pitched in E...

. His circus associations on record include: Mighty Haag, Downie & Wheeler Circus (1912); Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus

Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus

The Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus was a circus that traveled across America in the early part of the 20th century. At its peak, it was the second-largest circus in America next to Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. It was based in Peru, Indiana....

 (1922); Sells-Floto Circus (1923); and Ringling Bros & Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is an American circus company. The company was started when the circus created by James Anthony Bailey and P. T. Barnum was merged with the Ringling Brothers Circus. The Ringling brothers purchased the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1907, but ran the circuses...

 (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

Waterloo Music Company

The Waterloo Music Company was a Canadian music publishing and musical instrument retailing firm that was founded in 1921 by Charles F. Thiele in Waterloo, Ontario...

 of Waterloo, Ontario

Waterloo, Ontario

Waterloo is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the city of Kitchener....

, from 1932-1935. At other times, Hughes worked as arranger in the Whaley, Royce and Cundy-Bettoney publishing houses. According to his own account, Hughes wrote band music in the USA for much of his life, under various pen names, including Arthur Wellesley and H W Arthur.

In his 70s, Hughes returned to Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, which he considered his home. It is reported that he died in an indigent ward in a New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

hospital in 1950.

Compositions

Names in parentheses are publishers and copyright dates.

Composed under the name A W Hughes

• Aces High Galop (unpublished manuscript)
• Ambassador March (Mace Gay 1897)
• Aquitania March (Cundy Bettoney 1915)
• Belle of Coontown Dance (Mace Gay 1895)
• Canada, Land of Liberty Medley
• Canadian Patriots Medley (Waterloo 1930)
• Carry On March (Cundy Bettoney 1940)
• Chain Lightning Galop (unpublished manuscript)
• Champlain March (Cundy Bettoney 1923)
• Charter of Liberty March (Cundy Bettoney 1921)
• Circus Echoes Galop (C L Barnhouse 1928)
• Comrades All March (Cundy Bettoney 1921)
• Corinthian March (Mace Gay 1895)
• Darkey's Connundrum - song & dance (Mace Gay 1895)
• The Dawn of Peace March (Cundy-Bettoney 1920)
• Del Rio March (Cundy Bettoney 1925)
• Dufferin March (Whaley, Royce 1910)
• Echoes from the Harem (Cundy-Bettoney 1917)
• Eventide (Walter Jacobs 1923)
• Fond du Lac March (Cundy-Bettoney 1913)
• Fort Garry March (Whaley, Royce 1911)
• Fraternity March (unpublished manuscript)
• Greater Boston March (unpublished manuscript)
• Hail Edward VII
• Hospitality March (Waterloo 1930)
• In the Lead March (Waterloo 1930)
• In Old Quebec March (Whaley, Royce 1908)
• Italia Giovinezza March Medley (Cundy-Bettoney 1928)
• Little Bugler (Karl King 1930)
• Mediterranean March (H C Miller 1925)
• Novelette (Cundy-Bettoney 1917)
• Novelty Overture (Karl King 1930)
• Our Commonwealth March (Cundy-Bettoney 1940)
• Our Pilot March (Cundy-Bettoney 1940)
• The Proclamation March (Cundy-Bettoney 1918)
• Red Deer March (Whaley,Royce 1911)
• Reign of Peace March (Whaley, Royce 1894)
• The Rosedale Three Step
• Rose Festival Waltz (Waterloo 1931)
• St Augustine March (Mace Gay 1895)
• St Julien March (Cundy-Bettoney 1918)
• Salute to the Adjutant March (Ditson 1927)
• Salute to Buffalo March (Whaley, Royce 1901)
• Salute to Mars March (Mace Gay 1895)
• Spark Plug Galop (unpublished manuscript)
• Tipperary Tommy March (Whaley, Royce 1916)
• The Tournament March (Whaley Royce 1894)
• Unique Overture (Karl King 1929)
• United Empire March (Whaley, Royce 1897)
• Utility March (Karl King 1929)
• Veteran Brigade March (Cundy-Bettoney 1940)
• Ye Old Tyme March (unpublished manuscript)

Composed under name of O.A. Gilson

• Robbins Bros. Triumphal March (C L Barnhouse 1928)
• Vindicator Concert March (unpublished manuscript)