VAUGHAN, Charles (d.1597), of Shapwick, Dorset; later of Falstone, Wilts.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

4th s. of Richard Vaughan of Bredwardine, Herefs. by Anne, da. of John Butler or Boteler of Dunraven, Glam. m. (1) Jane, da. of Fulk Prideaux of Threborough, Devon, wid. of Thomas Hussey of Shapwick, s.p.; (2) Bridget (d. 20 Mar. 1596), s.p.

Offices Held

?Burgess, Southampton 1565; servant of 1st and 2nd Earls of Pembroke; j.p. Dorset 1577-82.

Biography

Vaugham was treasurer to the 1st Earl of Pembroke, who employed him, along with Robert Grove, on the well-known survey of his lands. After the death of the Earl, whose funeral he attended on 18 Apr. 1570, Vaughan remained in the service of the family, and came into Parliament for the Pembroke borough of Shaftesbury. It may well have been business of the 2nd Earl that procured him leave of absence from Parliament on 11 June 1572 for his ‘great business and affairs’ at the next Dorset assizes. He engaged in a number of land transactions, either on behalf of the Earl or on his own account, and, together with Arthur Massinger and Thomas Hannam, witnessed the Earl’s sale of a park at Cranborne to James Hannam. By 1596 he was living at Falstone. He acted, in 1565, as overseer for the will of his ‘loving friend’ the vicar of Shapwick, who left Vaughan a personal bequest, and money to distribute to the poor of the district. A touching minor bequest was to Vaughan’s wife—she received half the vicar’s bees. Vaughan died 22 Mar. 1597. His will, made on 23 Apr. 1596, describes him as of Falstone. He wished to join ‘the company of the heavenly and blessed saints’ and ‘according to the articles of my faith at the great day of general resurrection we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ’. He wished to be buried in the north aisle of the parish church of Bishopstone, to which he left £6 13s.4d. The poor of Salisbury, Wilton and Wimborne Minster received £5, and of Cranborne, Gussage St. Michael and Shapwick £4. The residue went to Vaughan’s nephew Walter. An inquisition taken at Shaftesbury on 19 May 1597 shows that Vaughan still held the manor of Gussage Bounde and the advowson of Gussage St. Michael both of which he had bought from Edward Bashe in 1564.

Hoare, Wilts. Downtown, 8; HMC 11th Rep. III, 20; Wilts Arch. Mag. xviii. 128; Pembroke Survey (Roxburghe Club), 501; CJ, i. 102; Som. and Dorset N. and Q. vi. 123, 167; viii. 20-1; xxiv. 169-71; PCC 33 Cobham; C142/249/64; CPR, 1563-4, p. 143.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: P. W. Hasler

Notes