VAUGHAN
,
JOHN
(
1663
-
1722
),
Derllys Court, Carms.
,
social and religious reformer
;
b.
1663
, the son of
John
Vaughan
of
Derllys
(
1624
-
1684
),
barrister
, and
Rachel
, daughter of
Sir
Henry
Vaughan
,
Derwydd, Carms.
His paternal grandfather was a brother of
John
Vaughan
,
Golden Grove
, the
first earl of Carbery
(see under
Vaughan
family,
Golden Grove
). He was (probably) educated at
Carmarthen grammar school
. On
6 Oct. 1692
he m.
Elizabeth
, daughter of
Thomas
and
Elizabeth
Thomas
(née
Protheroe
)
,
Meidrym
, the latter being a first cousin to
Lucy
Walter
(q.v.)
, mother of the
duke of Monmouth
.
During the last twenty years of his life
John
Vaughan
was the
leader of religious and educational life
in
Carmarthenshire
. He and his friend
Sir
John
Philipps
(q.v.)
, of
Picton castle, Pembs.
, succeeded with the aid of the
S.P.C.K.
in making their respective counties the most progressive in
Wales
.
John
Vaughan
paid special attention to the
founding of charity schools and libraries
and to the
distribution of Welsh religious literature
. He was the
pioneer of free libraries and children's libraries
,
advocated county grants for the education of poor children
, and
took special interest in workhouse and prison reform
. He emphasised, too, the importance of family devotion in every home. He was
mayor
of
Carmarthen borough
,
1710-11
, and a
member of the borough council
,
1707-22
. His daughter,
Bridget
Bevan
(q.v.)
, was the
chief patron
of the
Welsh circulating schools
. His wife d. in
1721
, and was buried in
Merthyr
church; he himself d. on
16 Nov. 1722
, and was buried in
Llan-llwch
church,
Carmarthenshire
.
His elder brother,
RICHARD
VAUGHAN
(
1653
-
1724
), followed his father at the Bar, became
bencher
and
treasurer
of
Gray's Inn
,
Member of Parliament
for
Carmarthen borough
(
1685-1724
),
recorder
(
1683-6
,
1688-1722
), and
chief justice
of
Carmarthenshire
,
Cardiganshire
, and
Pembrokeshire
. He m.
Arabella
Philipps
of
Picton Castle
, and was thus a brother-in-law to
Griffith
Jones
,
Llanddowror
(q.v.)
.
Bibliography:
- S.P.C.K. records (London);
- Carmarthen borough council records (Carmarthen and N.L.W.);
-
‘The Charity of John Vaughan’ (
National Library of Wales Manuscript
26);
-
Mary Clement
, ‘Hanes yr S.P.C.K. yn Sir Gaerfyrddin,’ 1700-50 (M.A. thesis
1940
);
-
Robert Harrison
,
Some Notices on the Stepney Family. MS.
notes
, London, 1870
,
1870
;
-
William Spurrell
,
Carmarthen and its neighbourhood notes
topographical and historical
, Carmarthen, 1860
(2nd ed.),
1879
;
-
D. Lleufer Thomas
, ‘The Vaughans of Golden Grove,’ in
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
;
-
Thomas Shankland
, ‘Sir John Philipps,’
The Transactions of the Honourable Society
of Cymmrodorion
,
1904-5
;
-
Francis Jones
, ‘The Squires of Hawksbrook,’
The Transactions of the Honourable Society
of Cymmrodorion
1937
;
-
W. Moses Williams
, ‘The Friends of Griffith Jones’,
Y Cymmrodor
,
1939
;
-
Mary Clement
, ‘John Vaughan, Derllys, a'i Waith,’
The Transactions of the Honourable Society
of Cymmrodorion
,
1942
;
-
Lord George Scott
,
Lucy Walter wife or mistress
, London,
1947
(London,
1947
);
-
T. Kelly
,
Griffith Jones, Llanddowror pioneer in adult
education
, Univ. of Wales Press, 1950
(Univ. of Wales Press,
1950
);
-
Mary Clement
,
Correspondence and minutes of the S.P.C.K.
relating to Wales 1699-1740
, Univ. of Wales Press,
1952
(Univ. of Wales Press);
-
Mary Clement
,
The S.P.C.K. and Wales, 1699-1740 the
history of the S.P.C.K. in Wales from its foundation to the
early years of the Welsh Methodist movement
, S.P.C.K.,
1954
(S.P.C.K.,
1954
).
Author:
Dr Mary Clement, Ph.D., Llanelli / Aberystwyth
