VAUGHAN, John (c.1752-1804), of Golden Grove, Carm.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke., 1964
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

2 Sept. 1779 - 1784

Family and Education

b. c.1752, 1st s. of Richard Vaughan of Golden Grove by his 1st w. Margaret, da. and h. of Charles Phillips of Llanelly.  educ. L. Inn 1771.  m. 16 June 1781, Elizabeth Letitia, da. of Sir Cornwallis Maude, 3rd Bt., s.p.  suc. fa. 1781.

Offices Held

Ld. lt. Carm. 1780- d.

Biography

John Vaughan was one of the largest landowners in Carmarthenshire, and was returned unopposed in 1779 and 1780. His first recorded vote was with Opposition for an account of pensions, 21 Feb. 1780; but he voted with Administration on the abolition of the Board of Trade, 13 Mar. 1780, Dunning’s motion, 6 Apr. 1780, and the motion against prorogation, 24 Apr. 1780. Classed by Robinson in his survey for the general election as a Government supporter, he was one of the first to leave them during the crucial divisions of 1782: in that of 20 Feb. his vote is uncertain, but in all the others he was against Administration. He voted for Shelburne’s peace preliminaries, 18 Feb. 1783; was classed by Robinson in March as ‘doubtful’; did not vote on Fox’s East India bill; and in Stockdale’s list of 19 Mar. 1784 appears as ‘absent’. He did not stand in 1784. There is no record of his having spoken in the House.

He died 19 Jan. 1804. He had the reputation of an eccentric. He bequeathed his estates to John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor, his companion on the grand tour, but no relation. ‘He has left several natural children in the neighbourhood’, wrote the Gentleman’s Magazine (1804, p. 687), ‘without the smallest provision for either of them.’

Ref Volumes: 1754-1790

Author: Peter D.G. Thomas

Notes