Edward Hughes Ball Hughes

Edward Hughes Ball Hughes (born Lambourne, Essex, 28 May 1798 – died St. Germains, France, 13 March 1863), also known as "The Golden Ball", was an English dandy known for his extravagant lifestyle.

Hughes was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. He spent some time in the 7th Hussars but left army life to enjoy his fortune. He soon attracted attention for his wealth and extravagance, with etchings of him publicly available as early as 1819. Hughes was a handsome man who was known for his chocolate-coloured coach and his invention of the black cravat.

In 1823 he suddenly married Maria Mercandotti, a 16-year-old Spanish dancer, who left a theatre full of patrons waiting in vain to see her. Ainsworth quipped, "The damsel is gone, and no wonder at all / that, bred to the dance, she is gone to a Ball." They later separated and were divorced in 1839.

In 1824 Hughes purchased Oatlands Palace from the Duke of York (although the sale was not final until 1827 due to problems with the deed). The later sale of the grounds for housing lots (creating the modern community of Oatlands) was a profitable venture for Hughes.

Hughes lost enormous sums through extravagant living and gambling; a pamphlet published in 1824 warned him by name about gamblers who would take his money. He was forced to move to France in 1829 to avoid his creditors, and his affairs were left in the hands of his solicitors, Freere and Forster, who sent him an allowance to live on. He still had substantial sums; according to a government report, he was one of the foreign investors in the Second Bank of the United States in 1832, holding $51,000 in stock.

In 1834 Hughes came into the possession of the manor of Sidmouth. In 1835 he helped finance a new sea wall for the town. In 1839 a law was passed by Parliament allowing Hughes to tear down the market and build a new one. An 1846 law confirmed that the new market had been built and that no one could sell anything in the manor except at the market, unless they paid a toll at the market building.

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