Capel Curig grave Philip Vernon Hughes
Philip Vernon Hughes (d.1899)
This gravestone is a reminder that walking and climbing in the mountains were not the only ways visitors to Snowdonia met with accidental death. Philip Vernon Hughes died in a fishing accident at Llyn Cowlyd, a lake about 4km north of Capel Curig, on 24 June 1899. He was 28 years old.
He had been staying at Cobden’s Hotel in Capel Curig and went fishing with his brother. He slipped while trying to climb around a rock which projected from the water at the lake’s upper end. He probably hit has head as he fell because he quickly sank, despite being a strong swimmer.
His brother tried to save him but became exhausted. He ran to Capel Curig, and a boat was carried up to the lake by volunteers. Scores of local people wanted to help. His body was recovered the same evening by “dragging” from the boat. The inquest was held at Cobden’s Hotel.
Philip was born in 1871 at Kingston-upon-Thames. His parents were Philip Hughes, a War Office civil servant who died in 1891, and wife Rosa (d.1912). They lived in the London area and the Isle of Wight.
Philip Vernon studied (possibly at King’s College, London) and then practised medicine. At the time of his death he was a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons and a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians.