HUGHES, James Laughlin, Canadian educator, born near Bowmanville, Ontario, 20 February, 1846 He was educated in the public schools, and in the normal school, Toronto, and spent the following four years on his father's farm. At eighteen he began teaching, in 1871 was appointed head master of the provincial model school at Toronto, and in May, 1874, became inspector of schools, Toronto He was a member of the central committee of examiners from 1877 till 1882, and was appointed by the Ontario government a special commissioner to investigate the frauds in teachers' examinations in 1877. He was sent by the Ontario government to St. Louis in 1883, to report on the kindergarten system in that city, and mainly through his instrumentality it was introduced into the province, as was also the phonic method of teaching reading, and systematic hand-training as a means of intellectual development. He is the author of "A Humorous Reciter" (Toronto, 1874); "A Prohibition Reciter" (1874); "Mistakes in Teaching" (twice republished in the United States, 1877); "How to secure and retain Attention" (1878); "Topical History of Canada" (New York, 1881); "Topical History of England" (1882); "The Practical Speller" (1883); edited "Gage's Canadian Readers" (Toronto, 1884); and has written often for educational publications.