Schoolmaster, naturalist. B.A. Cambridge, 1852; M.A. 1855; LL.D. 1866. Before becoming student at Cambridge, had been schoolmaster in Glasgow and Liverpool. Thereafter, second master, then head master, Bristol grammar school, 1852-1860. Established and conducted private school in Clifton, 1861-1881. Devoted his leisure to microscopic research; discovered several genera and species of Rotifera; became in this branch of science "the chief authority of his time" (Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, February 1904). F.R.M.S. 1872; F.R.S. 1889. Contributed numerous articles to scientific journals. Author of The Rotifera, 1886, written with assistance of Philip Henry Gosse.

Hudson's H.W. articles show the methods and devices of the schoolmaster. In the first, "Mr. Bubs" makes repeated observations of Mars, finally arriving at a correct understanding of the planet's orbit. In the second, by question and answer, by reference to tangible objects, and by computation of distances in terms of the speed of railway travel, Hudson leads the reader, step by step, to a concept of astronomical distances.

The Office Book authorship ascription for Hudson's first article reads "C. T. Hughes", the "Hughes" being in part blotted and over written; the name "Hudson" is written, clearly, above the overwritten name. Hughes's article "Mr. Bubb's Visit to the Moon", May 17, was motivated by Hudson's article.

Author: Anne Lohrli; © University of Toronto Press, 1971.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography