He was born on the 12th January 1891 and was the son of Thomas and Mary Hughes of Mold. In the 1901 census the family was living in Stanley Street, Mold.  William was 13 and he lived with his father Thomas, 62 yrs – a cattle dealer, his mother Mary 45 and his siblings Annie 22, Lottie 17, Thomas Henry 15, Ethel 8 and Norman 6.

The 1911 census placed the family in Marlow Terrace, Mold. Mary was 57 and was a widow. Still living with her were Annie Mary 32, Charlotte Elizabeth 26, Ethel 19, a private school teacher, Edward 30 a draper and Norman 16, a solicitor’s clerk. There was no sign of William and we believe that by 1911, he had possibly emigrated to Canada.

We next find him in Winnipeg in December of 1914 where he was joining the Canadian Expeditionary Force.  His attestation papers tell us that he had dropped the William from his name and he was calling himself Alfred Hughes. He named his mother Mary Hughes as his next of kin and gave her address as 10 Grosvenor Street, Mold.  His trade or calling was ‘Cattle Dealer’  – as his father had been.  He  was unmarried and described as 5 feet 8 1/2 inches tall, with a medium complexion,brown eyes and dark brown hair. His religion was Weslyan.