George Vaughan (New Hampshire) (13 April 1676 – 20 November 1725) may be best known for being Lieutenant Governor of the

Province of New Hampshire The Province of New Hampshire was a colony of England and later a British province in North America. The name was first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America, and was n ...

for only one year. A graduate of

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1696, he was also at various times a merchant,

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...

for the province to England, and counsellor.Howard, pp. 502–504

Life

George Vaughan was born in 1676 to William Vaughan (military officer) and Margaret Cutt Vaughan. His father was a representative of an English trading firm who migrated to the

, where he became a wealthy merchant. His mother also came from a family of merchants, one of whom, her uncle

John Cutt John Cutt (1613 – April 5, 1681) was the first president of the Province of New Hampshire. Cutt was born in Wales, emigrated to the colonies in 1646, and became a successful merchant and mill owner in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was marri ...

, was the first royally appointed governor of the province. Vaughan graduated from

in 1696, and entered the family business in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. In 1697 he married Mary Belcher, the daughter of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

merchant Andrew Belcher (and sister to future governor

Jonathan Belcher Jonathan Belcher (8 January 1681/8231 August 1757) was a merchant, politician, and slave trader from colonial Massachusetts who served as both governor of Massachusetts Bay and governor of New Hampshire from 1730 to 1741 and governor of New J ...

). She died in 1699, not long after giving birth to a daughter who also did not survive. In January 1700 he married Mary Elliot.

Career

When

Queen Anne's War Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. In E ...

broke out in 1702, Vaughan joined the provincial militia, in which he was commissioned a colonel. In 1707 he was chosen by the provincial assembly as the colonial agent, and traveled to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He was able to parlay his London connections into an appointment as the province's lieutenant governor in 1715. He assumed this office in October 1715, during the governorship of

Joseph Dudley Joseph Dudley (September 23, 1647 – April 2, 1720) was a colonial administrator, a native of Roxbury in Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the son of one of its founders. He had a leading role in the administration of the Dominion of New England ...

. Dudley was also governor of neighboring Massachusetts, and did not come to New Hampshire before his replacement in October 1716 by Colonel

Samuel Shute Samuel Shute (January 12, 1662 – April 15, 1742) was an English military officer and royal governor of the provinces of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. After serving in the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession, he was appoin ...

, who was also commissioned governor of both provinces. As a result, Vaughan acted as governor during this time. Vaughan and Shute disagreed on exactly what powers Vaughan held when Shute was not physically present in the province. Vaughan insisted that he had the full powers of the governor during Shute's absence, while Shute felt that Vaughan's powers were limited. The conflict contributed to Vaughan's removal from office in October 1717. Sources disagree on his departure from office: He "resigned his office, after some months of controversy. This was occasioned by his opinions on some important measures not agreeing fully with those of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

, especially on the

excise file:Lincoln Beer Stamp 1871.JPG, upright=1.2, 1871 U.S. Revenue stamp for 1/6 barrel of beer. Brewers would receive the stamp sheets, cut them into individual stamps, cancel them, and paste them over the Bunghole, bung of the beer barrel so when ...

and impost laws." "In 1716,

, a resident of

, was appointed governor of that province and of New Hampshire, and soon after a controversy arose between these two highest officials. The Lieutenant Governor claimed that he was the true and sole

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

, when the Governor was absent from the Province, and thereby became vested in all of the

prerogative In law, a prerogative is an exclusive right bestowed by a government or state and invested in an individual or group, the content of which is separate from the body of rights enjoyed under the general law. It was a common facet of feudal law. The ...

s pertaining to that office. He therefore declined to obey the mandate of his superior, when issued from Massachusetts. "... On the 30th day of September, 1717, Lieutenant-Governor Vaughan was removed from office ...."Hodgdon, George Enos, ''Reminiscences and genealogical record of the Vaughan family of New Hampshire'', (1918), pp. 11–2

Notes

References

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Life

Career

Notes

References

Further reading