Senior Counsel Clarence Hughes, partner in the legal firm Hughes, Fields and Stoby, died yesterday morning at his Subryanville home following a bout of illness.
The attorney, described by a close friend as “leader of the bar”, had only celebrated his 77th birthday last Saturday.
His son, Alliance For Change Chairman and attorney Nigel Hughes informed that while his father had been ailing for a while, the news was still devastating for him. However, he said he was grateful that he was able to make it home on Thursday evening from the United States, where he had been to his mother-in-law’s funeral. Hughes’ wife Cathy, a Member of Parliament lost her mother, former well-known actress Elizabeth Wells, last week.
“I am eternally grateful that I was able to fly back and was able to speak to him and tell him thanks before he passed,” he told Stabroek News from his dad’s Lot 6 Earl’s Avenue, Subryanville residence.
“Every time I saw him I told him thanks; let him know that I was grateful for everything he did for me. It was the relationship we had,” he said, as he reflected on a fond childhood.
The youngest of three children—the other two a brother Stuart and sister Elizabeth—Hughes said it was his father’s passion for the opera and jazz that made him fall in love with jazz and later open the Sidewalk Café and Jazz Club.
An avid reader and lover of the classics, Hughes was also described as a fervent traveller who took six weeks off every year to travel to destinations across the globe. “There are few countries that he has not seen. He set aside six weeks every year and travelled be it from Nairobi to various places in Europe and all over Africa,” Hughes said.
He recalled a dedicated father who loved his job but took time out to spend quality time with his family passing on to his children qualities that enabled them to be productive citizens. He had celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary with his wife Cristobel on June 24, this year.
A native of New Amsterdam Berbice, Clarence Hughes will be remembered for the role he played in the ‘Grenada 17 trial’, after that island nation’s then prime minister, Maurice Bishop, was assassinated in 1983. Apart from Grenada, Clarence Hughes had also practiced in other Caribbean states.
His longtime friend, Senior Counsel Bryn Pollard recalled the days he and his “very jovial” friend studied in London, England. “He was a staunch and loyal friend, someone you could always depend on for sound advice. He and I were students of law together in London and we thoroughly enjoyed our school days abroad. We worked hard, but oh! we enjoyed ourselves,” he said as he chuckled.
“I left before him and then he came and began working with H B Fraser. He was not interested in working for the government… and his job he did exceedingly well. He was leader of the bar, always worked hard at the bar and always pressed for development of the bar,” Pollard stated.
He said that on the lighter side Clarence Hughes will be remembered for the annual Old Year’s Night gala that was held at his residence.
It was because of the fun patrons had that it could not be compared to any other party and this was evidenced by guests who sometimes left in bright sunlight on New Year’s Day.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Bar Association in expressing condolences stated that it had lost a legal stalwart. “We recognise that we have lost a substantial attorney.
We are thankful that he left his mark in an indelible way,” said president of the bar Mohamed Khan last evening.
No funeral arrangements have as yet been made as the family awaits the arrival of Stuart, Hughes’ eldest child, from the United Kingdom, where he works as an engineer.
