William Vaughan (abt. 1575 - abt. 1641)

Born about 1575 in Golden Grove, Carmarthenshire, Wales

Ancestors

Died about Aug 1641 at about age 66 in Llangendeirne, Carmarthenshire, Wales

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Biography

William Vaughan (b. 1575/7 Golden Grove - Aug 1641) is the second son of Walter Vaughan (d. 1598) of Golden Grove, Carmarthenshire. He married twice.

WILLIAM VAUGHAN ( 1575 - 1641 ), author and colonial pioneer , was the second son of Walter Vaughan of Golden Grove and brother of John Vaughan , 1st earl of Carbery . He matriculated from Jesus College , Oxford , 4 Feb. 1592 ( B.A. March 1594 , M.A. Nov. 1597 ). He travelled widely on the Continent. In 1616 he was sheriff of Carmarthenshire . He m. Elizabeth , daughter and heiress of David ap Robert of Llangyndeyrn (now called Torcoed ). In 1617 he purchased land from the Company of Adventurers to Newfoundland , and sent out settlers from Wales at his own expense in that year and two years later. The settlement he called ‘ Cambriol ,’ and he gave it Welsh place-names; it was situated on the south coast at the head of Tripaney Bay . Vaughan was prevented by ill-health from going out himself in 1622 , and he did not succeed in establishing the colony. Owing to severe weather conditions and other causes the scheme was abandoned. He was knighted in 1628 . His writings include ( a ) a work entitled Golden Grove ( 1600 ), a commonplace-book which includes quotations from a great variety of authors, classical, mediaeval, and contemporary, arranged under three headings — moral, economic, and political. He also wrote ( b ) a Latin poem in celebration of the marriage of Charles I , and ( c ) the curious compilation which he entitled The Golden Fleece ( 1626 ). In both he employed the pseudonym ‘ Orpheus Junior .’ The Golden Fleece contains verse, both in Latin and English , animadversions on religion of a distinctly anti-Romanist character, and observations on the commercial weaknesses of the kingdom, all leading to the advocacy of colonisation , particularly in Newfoundland . He also wrote other pamphlets dealing mainly with questions of religion and health. He d. at Llangyndeyrn in Aug. 1641 , and was buried in the churchyard there.

Siblings

• John Vaughan, 1st Earl of Carbery (1572−1634)
• Henry Vaughan (1587−1659), Royalist leader in the English Civil War.

Marriage

m.1 Elizabeth (d. Jan 1608), d. & h. of David ap Robert of Llangyndeyrn. Issue: 1 son.

• Francis "died young"

m.2 Anne (b. c. 1588 - d. 15 Aug 1572), dau. of John Christmas of Colchester. Issue: 1 son, 5 dau.

• Edward

m. Jemima, dau. of Nicholas Bacon Shrubland Hall, near Ipswich

Occupation

• poet and colonial pioneer

Works

• 1600: The Golden Grove

Sources

• Ceri Davies, ‘Vaughan, Sir William (c.1575–1641)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 12 Oct 2017

• Vaughan, William (1577-1641) (DNB00). WikiSource.org.[1]

• Wikipedia: William Vaughan (writer) (c. 1575 – Aug 1641)

• Dictionary of Welsh Biography[2]