VAUGHAN
family, of
Hergest
,
Kington
,
Herefords.
The first of the
Vaughans
to reside here was
THOMAS AP
VAUGHAN
, son of
Roger
Vaughan
of
Bredwardine
, who was killed at
Agincourt
(see
Vaughan
family of
Bredwardine
). His mother was
Gwladys
, daughter of
Dafydd
Gam
(q.v.)
. He was, therefore, a full brother of
Watkin
Vaughan
of
Bredwardine
, and
Sir
Roger
Vaughan
of
Tretower
(see
Vaughan
family of
Tretower
), and a uterine brother of
Sir
William
Herbert
,
earl of Pembroke
(q.v.)
, and of
Sir
Richard
Herbert
. His wife was
Ellen
Gethin
, daughter of
Dafydd ap Cadwgan ap Phylip Dorddu
, one of the
Vaughans
of
Tyle Glas
. The earliest record of him is that he was
constable of the castle
of
Huntingdon
(some two miles from
Hergest
) in
1422
. He was
receiver of the three lordships
of
Brecknock
,
Hay
, and
Huntingdon
in
1453-4
. At the
Coventry Parliament
of
1457
, he was granted a general pardon, with others of his kinsmen and neighbours, an indication that
Henry
VI
's advisers hoped to prevent them from throwing in their lot with the
Yorkist party
. Again in
1460
, he was
placed on a commission to seize, in the king's name, the castles and manors
of the
duke of York
and the
earl of Warwick
in
Elvell
,
Melenith
,
Gwerthrynion
, and on the
Herefordshire
border. In
1461
, he was appointed
receiver of the three lordships
during the minority of the heir to the
duchy of Buckingham
. Like his brothers, however, he joined the
Yorkists
. He is found
with them on commissions of oyer and terminer in
North Wales
in
1467
, and it was with their forces that he
marched to his death
at the field of
Edgecote
, near
Banbury
, in
1469
. There is some uncertainty about the date of his death.
Evans
(
Wales and the Wars of the Roses
, 177), on the grounds of an allusion by
Guto'r Glyn
, believed that he fell in a preliminary skirmish on
Monday, 23 (
recte
24) July
. From
Lewis Glyn Cothi
's elegies upon his death it could be argued that he fell in the main battle on the 26th, and there was a tradition in the family in the time of
Dr.
John David
Rhys
that he, and not
Sir
Richard
Herbert
, was the hero of that battle. His body was brought home for burial at
Kington
, and, despite much renovation, the alabaster tomb, which his widow had erected in that church, survives to this day. He is said to have been 69 years old when he died. In the pedigree books, he is described as
lord
of
Hergest
,
Blethvaugh
,
Nash
, and
Llaneinion
. His widow was living at
Nash
, near
Presteign
, in
1474
, when she obtained an indulgence for those who would pray for her husband's soul. There is a tradition that she slew, with her own hand, her cousin
Siôn Hir ap Phylip Fychan
, to avenge the death of her brother,
Dafydd
Fychan
of
Llinwent
in
Llanbister
, whom he had
killed
.
Thomas
and
Ellen
had three sons,
Watkin
Vaughan
,
Richard
Vaughan
, who died shortly after his father (see his elegy by
Lewis Glyn Cothi
), and
Roger
Vaughan
(see
Vaughan
family of
Clyro
), and one daughter,
Alice
, wife of
Robert
Whitney
, upon whose wedding
Lewis Glyn Cothi
composed an epithalamium. The heir,
WATKIN
VAUGHAN
, maintained the tradition which made
Hergest
a resort for the greatest
Welsh
bards of the
15th cent.
For three generations
Welsh
culture found a home at
Hergest
. There were preserved the ‘
Red Book of Hergest
,’ which is now at the
Bodleian Library
,
Oxford
, and the ‘
White Book of Hergest
,’ the collection of
Welsh
prose and verse (believed to have been largely transcribed by
Lewis Glyn Cothi
) which was lost in the
Covent Garden
fire of
1808
.
Watkin
Vaughan
m.
Sybil
, daughter of
Sir
John
Baskerville
, and grand-daughter of
Sir
Walter
Devereux
. His cousin,
William
Herbert
,
earl of Huntingdon
, gave him the
stewardship
and
receivership of the castle
and lordship of
Huntingdon
,
Herefordshire
, in
1484
, and he was made
seneschal
of the lordship of
Brecknock
by
Thomas ap Sir Roger Vaughan
of
Tretower
. He was an
arbitrator in a case of murder
in
1485
(
B.M. Harl. MS. 6079
). The bards were extravagant in their eulogies on him.
Tudur Penllyn
(q.v.)
says that he was the
controller of all taxes
in
Powys
, and that he was a
constable
on the banks of both the
Vyrnwy
and the
Wye
. Nine children are recorded to him. It will suffice to name
JAMES
VAUGHAN
, the heir, and the second son
ROGER
VAUGHAN
, who m.
Ellen
, daughter of
Sir
Thomas
Cornewall
.
Sybil
, wife of
Hugh
Lewis
,
Harpton
, one of the
commissioners
who signed
Gruffudd Hiraethog
's bardic licence in
1545
and was father of
John
Lewis
of
Llynwene
(q.v.)
, was
Roger
Vaughan
's daughter.
James
Vaughan
of
Hergest
was the other
commissioner
. His wife was
Elizabeth
, daughter and heiress of
Sir
Edward
Croft
. Their heir,
CHARLES
VAUGHAN
, was
Member of Parliament
for
Radnorshire
,
1553
. His first wife was
Elizabeth
, daughter of
Sir
James
Baskerville
of
Eardisley
, and the second
Margaret
, daughter of
Sir
William
Vaughan
of
Porthaml
, and widow of
Roger
Vaughan
of
Clyro
. According to
W. R.
Williams
,
Robert
Vaughan
,
sheriff
of
Radnorshire
,
1562-3
and
1567-8
, and
Member of Parliament
for
Radnor borough
,
1554
and
1559
, was his second son by the first wife, but this is not firmly established.
WALTER
VAUGHAN
was the heir. He was followed by his son
JOHN
VAUGHAN
, who corresponded with
Sir
Robert
Harley
about the
plague
at
Presteigne
,
23 Sept. 1636
. His heir was
JAMES
VAUGHAN
, who matriculated at
Oxford
at the age of 16,
16 Nov. 1621
.
JOHN
VAUGHAN
was his heir.
SILVANUS
VAUGHAN
,
John
's son, matriculated at
Oxford
, aged 17,
17 March 1676
, and took his
M.A.
degree in
1682
. He was
rector
of
Tilston
,
Cheshire
, and was buried at
Kington
,
9 July 1706
. The estate went to
Frances
, daughter of
John
Vaughan
. She m.
William Gwyn
Vaughan
of
Trebarried
(d.
1752
), who was descended from an illegitimate son of
Sir
Roger
Vaughan
of
Tretower
.
Bibliography:
-
Pen. MSS. at the National Library of Wales,
Aberystwyth
140, 354;
-
The Radnorshire Society. Transactions
,
1931 ff
, viii, 8-17;
- Cardiff deeds, Breck., 4;
-
Calendar of Patent Rolls
. Record
Publication, 1891 ff
;
-
Evans
,
Wales and the Wars of the Roses
,
1915
;
-
Anc. Monuments Comm.,
An inventory of the historical monuments in
Herefordshire (Great Britain. Royal commission on the
ancient and historical monuments and constructions of
England)
, London, 1931-1934
, iii, 90;
-
M.M.I.,
The History of Kington. with an appendix by
a member of the Mechanics' Institute, of Kington
,
Kington, 1845
, 98;
-
poems by
Bedo Brwynllys
,
Dafydd Llwyd
,
Guto'r Glyn
,
Hywel Dafi
,
Hywel Swrdwal
,
Huw Cae Llwyd
,
Lewis Glyn Cothi
,
Llawdden
,
Tudur Penllyn
, etc.;
-
The Visitation of Herefordshire
,
1569
(
1569
);
-
W. R. Williams
,
The History of the Parliamentary
Representation of Wales
, 1895
;
-
Theophilus Jones
,
History of the County of
Brecknock
(3rd ed.), iii, 318, 506;
-
Foster
,
Alumni Oxonienses
;
-
Reports of the ‘Historical
Manuscripts Commission
,
Reports of the ‘Historical
Manuscripts Commission
, iii, 40.
Author:
Evan David Jones, F.S.A., (1903-87), Aberystwyth
