On 31 August 1853, John Hughes arrived in Fremantle as a convict on board the ship 'Phoebe Dunbar' from Dublin, as Convict 2352. He had been convicted of forgery. He received a conditional pardon in July 1856 and his wife, and his five surviving children joined him. He purchased 40 acres of land for 20 pounds from the Crown on 6 September 1869 but could well have been a squatter before that date. The property was known as Bluebeard Farm or Blue Hole Farm, though Hughes had officially named it Ravensdale. Hughes died aged 77 on 5 December 1880.
