One of the most prominent industrialists of his time was John Hughes, the founder of Donetsk. Thanks to him, this one of the largest industrial cities in Ukraine appeared. What else was remarkable about the biography of John Hughes? Let's find out in more detail who he is and what he did.
Young years
First of all, let's find out what year John Hughes was born, where and in whose family. The future major industrialist was born in 1814 in the town of Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. He came from a Welsh family of engineer Hughes (in modern pronunciation - Hughes), who managed the local metallurgical plant.
In early youth, John James Hughes worked at his father's company, but by the age of 28 he was able to accumulate some capital and acquired his own shipyard.
UK Activities
In 1850, John Hughes acquires another business - a foundry in Newport. However, this did not prevent him from improving himself at the same time, working as an engineer at the Milvolsky iron-rolling plant, where he moved in the late 50s of the 19th century. Already in 1860, John Hughes became the director of this enterprise.
One of his achievements at that time was the creation of a carriage for heavy guns, which hedesigned in 1864. This mechanism attracted the attention of many European countries, from which orders poured in. In addition, John Hughes was involved in the development of armor for ships.
The name of John Hughes has become one of the most famous in British metallurgy and shipbuilding.
Offers from Russia
The developments of John Hughes interested the Admir alty of the Russian Empire, which planned to use armor to strengthen Fort Konstantin in Kronstadt.
During the negotiations on the supply of armor, Yuz developed close acquaintances with Russian officials, among whom were Colonel Ottomar Gern and General Eduard Totleben. They offered the British industrialist to implement a project in the south of the Russian Empire to build a plant for the production of iron rails, which Prince Kochubey had previously undertaken. Yuz agreed.
Reasons for accepting the offer
The main reason that prompted John Hughes to concentrate his main activity on the Russian Empire was the industrial crisis that erupted in Great Britain after the catastrophic fall of the London Stock Exchange in 1866. This has generated a significant increase in the unemployment rate in the country and an outflow of investment. At this time, the volume of orders from buyers dropped significantly.
Russia was then a state whose economy was developing by leaps and bounds, trying to close the gap with Western countries. Therefore, it represented a rather attractive field of activity for a foreign industrialist. He intended to involve in projects implemented in Russia, a workforce fromGreat Britain, for which demand has plummeted in its home country.
In addition, Russian officials made Yuzu a number of rather profitable offers, which seemed even more attractive in this situation.
Start in Russia
So, John Hughes came to grips with the Russian project, which promised big profits.
In 1868 he went to Russia, leaving his wife at home, as she completely refused to move.
First of all, Yuz acquired the right to mine coal on the lands that belonged to Prince Pavel Lieven. In the same year, a British industrialist bought a concession for activities in the metallurgical production in the Yekaterinburg province from Prince Sergei Kochubey, which was facilitated by Grand Duke Konstantin himself, who was the brother of Emperor Alexander. The deal was officially registered in April of the same year.
Thus, John Hughes paved the way for the development of large-scale metallurgical production and the coal mining industry.
Novorossiysk Society
But to start production, considerable financial investments were required. John Hughes decided to attract them by creating a joint stock company. With his help, he wanted to direct British capital for the development of industry in the south of the Russian Empire. The organization became known as the "Novorossiysk Society", and specialized in attracting investments in metallurgical, coal and rail production. Registration of the society took place in 1869 in London.
The main shareholder of the companyBritish MP Daniel Gooch became a member of the British Parliament, and the total number of participants reached nineteen people. There were also Russians among them, in particular, Sergey Kochubey and Pavel Liven mentioned above.
Foundation of Donetsk
Now let's find out in what year John Hughes founded Donetsk. There is no exact dating of this event, but it is considered to be the founding year of 1869, when the Novorossiysk Society near the village of Aleksandrovka began to build a metallurgical plant. At the same time, a working settlement arose, which, in honor of John Hughes, was called Yuzovka, or Yuzovo. The modern city of Donetsk grew out of this settlement.
Initially, Yuzovka had the status of a settlement with a simplified city administration, and territorially belonged to the Bakhmut district of the Yekaterinoslav province. In 1870, it had 164 inhabitants.
Then, in 1869, another settlement arose - Smolyanka. A forge and two mines belonging to Yuzu were being built near it.
Production development
Although the plant was originally planned to start up in 1870, the construction of the first blast furnace was completed only in April 1871. By 1872, the construction of the plant was completely completed. It consisted of eight coke ovens. At the very beginning of 1872, iron smelting began.
The workers at the plant were not only subjects of the Russian emperor, but also people recruited in Great Britain, where many free hands appeared due to the crisis. Particularly large influxThe work force was from Wales, native to Hughes. Most British workers lived in the Yuzovka quarter, which was called the English colony.
If at first the production developed rather hard, then over time it reached a significant scale. The Yuza plant has become one of the largest metallurgical enterprises in the Russian Empire.
In 1880, a factory for the production of refractory bricks was put into operation. Nine years later, an iron foundry and machine-building enterprise also began to function. True, this was already the work of not Yuz, but other industrialists - Gennefeld and Bosse. Nevertheless, it is John Hughes who is the person thanks to whom the industry began to develop by leaps and bounds in the region.
To ensure the transport accessibility of the developing region, the Konstantinovskaya railway was launched in 1872.
Yuz House
Initially, John Hughes lived in an estate bought from the landowner Smolyaninova, where the village of Smolyanka arose. The house where he lived was a structure similar to a Ukrainian hut. Its walls were made of adobe, and the roof was made of straw. However, this building has not survived to this day.
Another house of John Hughes is of significant historical and architectural value. It was built in Yuzovka specifically for the Welsh industrialist. The start of construction was dated for the second half of 1873. Already in the middle of next year the house was built. It was a one-story red brick building and consisted of eight rooms. The roof was covered with sheetsgland. In addition, many buildings of an economic type adjoined the house, ranging from the basement to the kennel. There was a garden on the estate. Also in the house were such attributes of the new time as running water and electricity.
Yuz's home was a mile and a half from his factory.
John Hughes' wife moved from England to Yuzovka much later than her husband, already when the mansion was built. She was not satisfied with his appearance, in particular, the fact that the house was one-story. Therefore, it was decided to rebuild it in two floors.
But not a single project of Russian architects could satisfy the taste of the Yuzov family, so a specialist was hired in the UK. The fact with which they approached the design with what responsibility is evidenced by the fact that it stretched over several years. Moreover, in 1880, work on the project was interrupted due to a number of force majeure circumstances, namely because of the death of John Hughes' son and wife. Work resumed only three years after their suspension. As a result, the project was a plan of a building in the Renaissance style.
The construction itself began in 1887 and ended four years later, that is, after the death of John Hughes. Neither he nor his wife survived until the house was finally built. However, other members of the family moved into the mansion in the autumn of 1891. They lived in the house until 1903, after which they left these places for good.
Currently, the building that was once the home of the Yuz is one of the landmarksdecorating the city of Donetsk, although it is in a dilapidated state. It is located at st. Clinical, 15. The modern view of the building can be seen in the photo above.
Death
As mentioned above, John Hughes (1814-1889) died before the completion of his new home. It happened in June 1889, when Yuz was in the capital of the Russian Empire, St. Petersburg. He died at the age of seventy-five at the Angleterre Hotel.
John Hughes was buried in his homeland, in the UK, at London's West Norwood Cemetery.
Family
Now let's take a quick look at other members of the Yuz family.
John Hughes was married to Elizabeth Lewis. For a long time she did not dare to move from her native Britain to the south of the Russian Empire. But in the end she followed her husband and sons. She died nine years before the death of John Hughes, in November 1880.
The Yuz family had seven children: five sons and two daughters. The eldest daughter, Sarah Anna Hughes, married Lemon, was born in 1846 and died in 1929 in London. Another daughter, Margaret, died young in Yuzovka. In 1948, her grave was opened and looted.
The eldest son of the Yuz family was named John James. He was born in 1848 and died in 1917. It was John James who, after the death of his father in 1889, became the head of the Yuz family.
The second son, Arthur Hughes, was born in 1852 and died like his brother in 1917. He was married to Augusta James, with whom four daughters were born.
Ivor Edward,born in 1855, was the third son of John Hughes. He died in 1917 in London.
Another child in the Yuzov household was Albert Evellin (b. 1857), who died in 1907 in London. His daughter was Kira Yuz, who was married first to the Russian Sergey Bursak, and then to the Englishman Ambemarle Blackwood. She had children from both marriages.
The youngest children in the Yuz household were David and Owen Tudor.
In addition, John Hughes had an illegitimate son, Ivan, born in 1870 and died in 1910. He had nine children.
John Hughes Passion
John Hughes' main passion, apart from engineering, was collecting. He spent a significant part of his fortune precisely on the acquisition of various valuable relics. He constantly kept in touch with antique shops.
Towards the end of his life, John Hughes amassed quite an impressive collection of antiquities.
John Hughes legacy
It's hard to overestimate the legacy John Hughes left behind. He was the first to put the metallurgical industry on an industrial footing in the Donetsk region, made a significant contribution to the development of coal mining and engineering. But, most of all, he is known to our contemporary as the founder of the city of Donetsk.
At the same time, we must state the fact that we know too little about the youth of John Hughes, his personal life, motivation when making important decisions.
Memory of John Uze
Even during the lifetime of the British industrialist, a working settlement was named after Yuz, which later became the center of the entire Donetsk region. By 1884In the year the population of this city numbered almost 5.5 thousand people, by 1897 - 29 thousand people, and by 1918 67,000 people already lived in Yuzovka.
But after the October Revolution, government circles tried their best to obscure the role of Yuz in the development of the region, since, in their opinion, a foreign capitalist is not worthy of people's memory. In 1924, a decision was made to rename the city of Yuzovka to Stalino. In 1961, the city acquired its current name - Donetsk.
After the fall of the communist regime, it became possible to rethink the past. The British industrialist was finally able to take the place in national history that he deserves. In September 2001, a monument to John Hughes was unveiled in the Voroshilovsky district of Donetsk. The author of this creation is Ukrainian sculptor Oleksandr Skorykh.
