The Vaughan family of Llanelli

John Vaughan was the second son of Walter Vaughan and Ann Lewis of Llanelli, who acquired his father’s estates when his brother Francis died two years after his father.

John was born around 1619, and was a minor when he succeeded to the property in 1637.

1636 On 1 September, Thomas Adams of Pembroke, Comptroller of HM Customs House of the port of Milford, had appointed John Vaughan to the office of Comptroller within the creek of north Burry, a member of the port of Milford, and to receive all fees appertaining to the office. In the following year he succeeded to the estate, and it is not known whether he continued in his appointment in the Customs.

1640 Shortly afterwards he married Margaret, daughter of Sir Marmaduke Lloyd, Baronet, of Maesyfelin, near Lampeter, one of the Justices of the counties of Brecon, Radnor, and Glamorgan, by his wife Mary Stedman of Strata Florida, Cardiganshire. Her portion was £800. Their post-nuptial settlement was made on 23 November 1640, when lands in the parishes of Llanelli, Llannon, Llanedi, Llangennech, Llandyfaelog, and Llangyndeern, were granted to Henry Middleton of Llanarthne and John Vaughan of Plas Gwyn in Llandyfaelog, as trustees.

Like all his kinsmen, John Vaughan supported the Royal cause during the Civil War, and a fine of £227 13 4 was imposed on him for delinquency. Otherwise he seems to have avoided the difficulties that beset his cousins of Derwydd, for he retained his property, and during the Commonwealth took an active part in public life.

1657 He served as Sheriff of the borough of Carmarthen.

1659 Was High Sheriff for the county. During his term in office he became involved in a transaction during the course of which he burned his fingers pretty badly.

A Parliamentary election in Carmarthenshire between Major-General Rowland Laugharne and the extreme Puritan David Morgan, resulted in a victory for the latter who polled 108 votes to his opponent’s 29. Nevertheless, Vaughan returned Laugharne, for which he was summoned to appear before Parliament where he had to apologise for his action, which he attributed, somewhat lamely, to a ‘clerical error’.

1660 Like his father he took an interest in the industrial possibilities of south-east Carmarthenshire. On 15 November 1660, John Harry Lewis of Llanelli parish, yeoman, granted him the right to work coal found on grantor’s land lying to the north of the highway from Llanelli to the river Llwchwr and coasting eastwards towards grantor’s house, for 21 years paying by way of rent is 6d for each weigh of coal landed and sold upon the said land.

1662 On 13 September Lewis Lloyd of Llangennech, esquire, agreed to grant a lease of three years to John Vaughan, of all veins of coal under the lands of ‘Keven y Maes’ in Llanelli parish, with liberty to sink pits and work coal, paying 2s 6d for every weight wrought and sold there.

1663 He was a Deputy Lieutenant for the county. On 20 September his son-in-law, Charles Stepney, who had an interest in the estate under his wife’s settlement, granted a lease of two fields, called ‘Bres Fawr and Fach’ and other properties in Llanelli, with liberty to sink pits and work for coal, rendering therefore five weighs of coal for every pit.

1664 A settlement made on 2 May to ensure provision for his younger children, recited that John Vaughan was tenant for life of the estate (the normal force of a strict settlement, or testamentary arrangement as in John’s case), part of which was to pass after his death, to his wife Margaret, and after her death, to his eldest son Walter, and the rest of the estate was to pass immediately to the said Walter on his father’s death; that John Vaughan has been ‘verie dangerously sicke’ for the last two years, and as his younger son, Phillip, and his (John’s) four daughters, were hitherto unprovided for, be now made arrangements to provide for them, and accordingly granted to his brother-in-law, Sir Francis Lloyd of Maesyfelin, John Vaughan the younger of Whitehouse near Llandeilio, esquire, and Oven Davids of Llanelli, gentleman, the following lands – five and more messuages in Llanelli parish, the water corn grist mills called ‘Llanelli mills’, similar mills at ‘Achddy’ and Dulais in Pembrey parish, messuages in the parishes of Llannon, Llandefaelog, Pembrey (Pen-bre), Llanedi, Llangennech, and Llangyndeyrn, from which the trustees were to pay grantor and his two sons, Walter and Phillip, £50 per annum a piece, and the remainder of the rents from the said lands to be shared between the four daughters. Provision was also made to secure the following dowries to the daughters when they married, namely, £1,000 to Jemima, £800 to Anne, £700 to Mary and £600 to Margaret.

1669 The date of John Vaughan’s death is not known, but administration of his goods was granted to the widow on 23 August 1669, and he probably died in that year, before 19 August when the inventory of his personal possessions was compiled.

The personalty showed that he farmed, like most of the squires of that time, and included:

Corn in the ground and in barn £17 10 0

Hay £7

6 working horses, 2 old mares, a sucking colt £4 10 0

A gelding £5

31 kine and 2 bulls £33

6 oxen £12

2 steers £2

18 young cattle £10

10 yearling beasts £3 6 8

Swine and poultry £1

Coal ‘above ground’ £5

The household stuff and implements of industry were valued at £30 and he owned silver plate of the value of £12.

His widow (Margaret) survived him by some 34 years, during which she continued to take an active interest in the affairs of the estate.

1701 She made her will on 31 July and the following grandchildren were beneficiaries:

Edward Vaughan of Llwynyfortun £100;

Margaret, wife of Thomas Phillips of Abermenda £50;

Nicholas Williams of Rhydodyn £200;

John Williams (second brother of Nicholas) £50;

Walter Williams (third brother of Nicholas) the tenements called ‘Bryn y Bannal’ in Llanelli parish, Maes-y-Llan in Llanedi parish, Closes called ‘Gwaynedd Bach, Rad yr Groes, Rad yr Lloyd, and Rhandiroedd’ in Llangennech parish, for ever £100;

Charles Williams (fourth brother of Nicholas) £30;

Thomas Williams (fifth brother of Nicholas £20;

John Stepney (son of Sir Thomas Stepney) £200;

Dorothy Parker £50;

And to testatrix’s great-grandchildren, Jemima and Margaret, daughters of Thomas Phillips of Abermenda, £30 and £20 respectively.

To her own daughter, Anne, wife of Griffith Lloyd of Cwmgwili, esquire, £50 and to testatrix’s god-daughter, Margaret, daughter of Hector Jones £5;

To be shared between the poor of the parishes of Llanelli, Llanedi, Llannon, Pembrey, and Llangennech £20;

and the residue of her personalty to her daughter and sole executrix Margaret, wife of Sir Thomas Stepney.

John and his exemplary wife Margaret (daughter of Sir Marmaduke Lloyd of Maesyfelin, Cardigan) had 14 children, six sons and 8 daughters, including:

Children of John Vaughan

1. Walter Vaughan The eldest son, Walter Vaughan, succeeded to the estate. He served as High Sheriff in 1683, and was a Justice of the Peace and a Deputy Lieutenant for Carmarthenshire. Few references have been found to him, and he seems to have spent a quiet and uneventful life.

On 7 January 1673-4 Hugh Jones and Donn Jones both of Cwm Llethrid, gentlemen, released to Walter Vaughan, in consideration of £10 12 0, a parcel called ‘Erw Vawr, and a messuage and lands called ‘Tir y Quarr’ and ‘Park y maen Lloyd’, in the parish of Llangennech;

On 17 November 1675 George Williams of Baglan parish, Glamorgan, gentleman, sold to him a capital messuage called ‘Penycoed Ucha’ and a messuage called ‘Sythyn Ynglan Moorwoog’ in the parishes of Llangennech and Llanelli.

He was the last of the Vaughans of Llanelli in the male line, and died unmarried on 12 October 1683, aged 34. His memorial in Llanelli church states:

Reader, whoe’re thou art, have regard to the unsullied ashes of Walter Vaughan, ye son of John Vaughan of Llanelly, Esquire, descended from the Honourable family of Golden Grove, and born to a plentifull estate. He had also acquired soe many laudable virtues in his life that he deserves to be remembered after his death. Such was integrity, and soe equall in the discharge of his duty in several offices of trust under the Prince, soe constant in his obedience to his parents, soe impartiall his kindness to his relations, soe faithfull his inclination to his friends, and soe sweetly disposed his temper towards all sorts of men, that he died lamented by all Anno Domini 1683. Aetatis suae 34. This Monument his most indulgent and mournful mother dedicated to his memory, which nor death nor time can extinguish’.

By his will, dated 23 August 1682, Walter bequeathed to his mother and executrix all his realty in the parishes of Llanelli, Llannon, Llanedi, Llangennech, Llandyfaelog, Llangyndeyrn, and Pembrey, together with all his personalty:

to his sister Margaret, £600;

to the cathedral church of St. Davids 10 shillings, and to the poor of Llanelli £10.

The inventory of his goods, compiled on 3 December 1683 consisted of: clothes, worth £60; books, £10; two silver tankards, £20; furniture, £50; muskets, fowling-pieces, pistols, swords, etc., £30; ready cash and rents due, £200.

2. Phillip Vaughan to whom Owen Thomas of Llanelli, yeoman, granted a parcel of pasture called ‘Park Corn Hwrdd’ in Llanelli parish, on 29 September 1663, for £4.

A deed in the Cawdor muniments dated 28 June 1672 names Phillip Vaughan of Llanelli, gentleman, as a party. Nothing more is known of him, but it is clear that he died unmarried and without issue.

3. Jemima Vaughan, married, after 1658, her cousin Richard Vaughan of Torycoed in Llangyndeyrn. She died on 7 March 1687/88 in her 40s leaving a son and three daughters.

She was buried in Llanelli church where a monument exists to her memory. Her husband afterwards married Elizabeth Appleton by whom he had further issue.

4. Anne Vaughan, married firstly, after 1648, Charles Vaughan of Cwmgwili who died without issue in 1675; secondly, Griffith Lloyd of Llanarthne, later of Cwmgwili.

She died on 31 January 1706-7, aged 59 (Monument Inscription Llanelli church).

Her husband married on 27 September 1709, Beatrice, daughter of Sir John Barlow, Bart, of Slebech, Pembrokeshire, widow of Sir Anthony Rudd of Aberglasney.

5. Mary Vaughan, married (as his second wife), Sir Rice Williams of Rhydodyn (High Sheriff in 1680), by whom she had five sons. He died on 27 February 1694-5, aged 47. She was living in 1705.

6. Margaret Vaughan, married, at Llanarthne on 9 December 1691, Sir Thomas Stepney, Baronet, of Prendergast near Haverfordwest, and later of Llanelli. Their pre-nuptial settlement was dated on the day before the wedding, her portion being £1,000. She died on 1 November 1733, aged 73, and was buried at Llanelli church where a monument exists to her memory. Sir Thomas, who had been High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire in 1697, and M.P. for Carmarthenshire 1717-22, died on 24 February 1744-5, aged 76.

Margaret Vaughan died on 26 February 1703-4, the year of the great storm, aged 81 years. The monument in Llanelli church describes her as:

‘. . . without flattery an excellent Wife, a careful Mother, and a kind Mistress, an exemplar of Temperance and Chastity, liberal but private in almsgiving, hospitable, and not riotous nor profuse, rich and not covetous, affable without fondness, peaceful without stupidity, devout without ostentation, religious without superstition or enthusiasm’

After the death of the aged Margaret Vaughan, who had a life interest in the estate, an agreement was signed to effect a partition of ‘the good and indefeazable estate’ as the lawyers called it, among the co-heiresses.

Accordingly, on 2 August 1705, the deed of partition was executed, the trustees being Richard Vaughan of Derwydd and Richard Middleton of Middleton Hall. Under this partition the lands were disposed in four parts:

1. Margaret Phillips, Dorothy Parker, and Rachel Vaughan, received 34 messuages, 5 houses, cottages, and parcels, and one water corn grist mill.

2. Anne Lloyd received 23 messuages, 22 houses, cottages, and parcels, and 3 water corn grist mills.

3. Dame Mary Williams received 22 messuages, 2 houses, cottages, and parcels, and one water corn grist mill.

4. Dame Margaret Stepney received 22 messuages and one water corn grist mill.

The mineral rights and the timber were to remain undivided, and to be enjoyed in common.

Although the total acreage has not been confirmed, a clue is given by a transaction in 1707, when the beneficiaries agreed to make a further division among themselves.

The estate is described in the ‘fine’ levied on the occasion as 140 messuages, 20 gardens, 5 mills, 2 fulling mills, and 7,080 acres of land.

Later, on 30 March 1709, Mrs Margaret Phillips of Bremenda, Mrs Dorothy Parker of Llanelli, widow, and Mrs Rachel Vaughan of Llether Llesty, divided the share of the property they held in co-parcenary or as joint tenants under the partition of 1705. This share is described as consisting of ‘Trostre, Brynshervel, Glasman’s Land, Callimage, Maesardaven, Llwynhendy, Llanerch, Llandaven, ‘a water corn grist mill called ‘Voyl’s Mill’ or ‘Meling Voyle’ (Felin-foel), a cot near the mill, 3 parcels, ‘Tyrmorfa, Foesfach, Werncaswoody, Erw Meyrick, Cae gwair Morfa, Bryn Buga,’ a house and gardens in Llanelli town, ‘Llwyn Kin’ thuch, Llwynwhilog, Altabona, Crobin, Walter, Kilwrfa, Tyr y Cwm, Penkiy,’ several messuages and a house and garden near Llanelly Mill, all in the parish and town of Llanelli; and Hendre in Llangennech parish.