John Vaughan (1603-1674), follower of John Michael Wright

Sir John Vaughan SL (14 September 1603 – 10 December 1674), of Trawsgoed, was a justice in the Kingdom of England.

Life

He was born in Ceredigion,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On 1 ...

the eldest of eight children of Edward Vaughan and his wife Letitia (Lettic) Stedman of Strata Florida, and was educated initially at The King's School, Worcester between 1613 and 1618, when he was admitted to

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. He attended until 1621, leaving without gaining a degree, and the same year was accepted into the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

. In 1625 he married his cousin Jane Stedman, with whom he had a son

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

, and two daughters Anne and Lucy, and in 1628 he was elected as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Cardigan, representing them again at both the

Short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

and

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

s. He was a moderate royalist, helping to prosecute William Laud and write the

Triennial Acts The Triennial Act 1641 (16 Cha. I c. 1), also known as the Dissolution Act, was an Act passed on 15 February 1641,bill of attainder A bill of attainder (also known as an act of attainder or writ of attainder or bill of penalties) is an act of a legislature declaring a person, or a group of people, guilty of some crime, and punishing them, often without a trial. As with attai ...

against Thomas Wentworth, saying it was unconstitutional. In 1630 he was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

. In that same year, he returned to Ceredigion before the outbreak of the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

and bought eight Ceredigion granges, totalling , formerly belonging to Strata Florida Abbey, further increasing the lands of Trawsgoed, the family estate. This led him to be one of the richest landowners in an economically poor country. Although at first a strong loyalist, the fall of

Tenby Tenby ( cy, Dinbych-y-pysgod, lit=fortlet of the fish) is both a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay, and a local government community. Notable features include of sandy beaches and the Pembroke ...

in 1643 disturbed him, and he began training the local militia. As a result of this his house was plundered in July 1645, and he was banned from sitting in Parliament in September. William Penn & William Mead - plaque - 01

William Penn & William Mead - plaque - 01

After the civil war he refused to return to public life, barely venturing out of his estates; the Earl of Clarendon claimed that he had lived ‘as near an innocent life as the iniquity of that time would permit’. After the English Restoration, Vaughan returned to the House of Commons in 1661, representing Cardiganshire in the Cavalier Parliament. Refusing an offer of judicial preferment from his old friend Clarendon, now Charles II's Lord Chancellor and chief minister, Vaughan instead became one of the leaders of the " country party" which opposed Clarendon, securing Clarendon's impeachment in 1667. He was widely admired for his eloquence, with

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

calling him "the great Vaughan". He was knighted and made a serjeant-at-law on 20 May 1668, and made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas on 23 May. His most enduring case was

Bushel's Case ''Bushel’s Case'' (1670) 124 E.R. 1006, also spelled ''Bushell's Case'', is a famous English decision on the role of juries. It established beyond question the independence of the jury. It also confirmed that the Court of Common Pleas could is ...

in 1670, which set the precedent that a jury could not be forced into changing a verdict which a judge does not approve of, one that has endured ever since; as such a plaque in the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

with the names of the jurors involved also includes that of Vaughan. He was a friend of John Selden, and acted as one of the executors of his estate after Selden's death in 1654, placing his library in the 'Selden end' of the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

. Vaughan died on 10 December 1674 at Serjeant's Inn, and was buried twelve days later at

Temple Church The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of J ...

, with Edward Stillingfleet speaking at his funeral. His court reports were later published by his son in 1677, with a corrected edition in 1706.

Footnotes

References

*Morgan, Gerald, "The Vaughans of Trawsgoed," Gomer, 1997,

External links

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughan, John 1603 births 1674 deaths People educated at King's School, Worcester Chief Justices of the Common Pleas Knights Bachelor Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales Serjeants-at-law (England) English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1661–1679 People of the Kingdom of England