Maurice Hughes: Gold Coast town crier dead at age 91

The Gold Coast’s last town crier has died. The colourful local is being remembered as a character, a rogue and the last of his kind.

THE Gold Coast’s last town crier is being remembered as a character, a rogue and a one-of-a-kind local.

Maurice Hughes, who served as town crier from 1987 until his retirement in 2010, died on April 10 at age 91 following a long illness.

He is survived by five children and six grandchildren.

Tributes are flowing for the man, who was a well-known figure at events across the city for decades during his last and best-known career.

Maurice Hughes. 1930-2022

His daughter, Amber Takao, said her father had lived a long and interesting life, which took him from the Royal Australian Navy to acting in one of the nation’s best-known films.

“He was a bit of a rogue and a ladies man whose fists and charm got him into trouble as a young man,” she said.

“He lived an incredible life and was a charmer right until the end.”

Mr Hughes was born in Sydney on December 8, 1930 and was the son of a Gallipoli veteran who taught him to fish as a young man.

Maurice Hughes (front far right) during his time in the Navy.

Following his father’s death in 1944, he took up boxing and joined the navy at age 17.

Mr Hughes qualified for the boxing at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne but was forced to bow out because of a rugby injury.

Through his long life he married four times and had several long-term de facto partners while working as an actor and salesman for the World Book Encyclopaedia.

The long-time Coombabah resident appeared as an extra in the 1959 film On The Beach and in the 1988 television revival of Mission Impossible, which was filmed on the Gold Coast.

Maurice Hughes was a well-known figure on the Gold Coast over many decades.

Ms Takao said one of the highlights of her father’s life was meeting celebrities through his encyclopaedia-selling career, including boxer Muhammad Ali and mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary.

“He was a top salesman and in New York he actually got to meet Muhammad Ali at a hotel,” she said.

“Later in Townsville, he entertained Edmund Hillary, who was a spokesman for the encyclopaedia at the time.”

Maurice Hughes, pictured in 1991, had many careers, including as an actor and book salesman.

Mr Hughes moved to the Gold Coast in the 1980s and was hired by developer Mike Gore to become the town crier for his Sanctuary Cove development in 1987.

His position was made official in the 1990s when Gold Coast City Council began paying him for his services. In 2008, not long before his retirement, Mr Hughes won the highest honour in town crying – the title of Australian Champion of Champions.

In recent years he moved into an aged care facility in Brisbane.

His funeral will be held on April 20 11.30am at George Hartnett Metropolitan Funerals in Upper Mt Gravatt.

Follow @GCS_Pottsy