 In his later career he became better known as a broadcaster and humorous author.Born in London, Hughes was the son of Irish composer, writer and song collector Herbert Hughes and great grandson of the sculptor Samuel Peploe Wood.His childhood, spent mostly with his mother Lilian Meacham (1886–1973), a Harley Street psychiatrist, involved a lot of travelling in France and Italy, as well as a more settled period of education at Perse School in Cambridge.