Rev. Canon John Vaughan (1855–1922) was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

English cleric and naturalist who lived and worked in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. Vaughan is considered a distinguished botanist and writer on natural history. He is an author of at least ten books on ecclesiastical and natural history topics.

Life

John Vaughan was the second son of

Rev. The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...

Matthew Vaughan, the

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

Finchingfield Finchingfield is a village in the Braintree district in north-west Essex, England, a primarily rural area. It is approximately from Thaxted, farther from the larger towns of Saffron Walden and Braintree. Nearby villages include Great Bardfield ...

, Essex who also had a daughter Eliza Vaughan (1863–1949). He was educated at

Felsted School (Keep your Faith) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Chris Townsend , r_head_l ...

and then

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

, graduating in 1876. In 1891 he married the eldest daughter of the Rev. F Whyley, former vicar of his old parish at Alton. He died suddenly at his home on 10 July 1922 after being taken ill while celebrating communion at the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

, at the age of 66. He was survived by his widow and two daughters.

Work

Career

After being

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

in 1878, Vaughan was appointed as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

in the Parish of Stratton (Stratton with Baunton) in the

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

and

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. In 1881 he transferred to the Diocese of Winchester in the county of

, where he remained, taking the curacy of Alton, Hampshire, and then became vicar of Porchester under private patronage in 1890. In 1897 he was collated (appointed) to the vicarage of

Langrish Langrish is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Stroud and is 2.7 miles (4.3 km) west of Petersfield, on the A272 road. Rail Connections The nearest main railway s ...

and in 1902 to

Droxford Droxford ( Drokensford) is a village in Hampshire, England. Geography The village is clustered with slight ribbon development along its main, north–south, undulating road. It is entirely on the lower half of the western slopes of the Meon v ...

. from the latter he was appointed an honorary canon of Winchester Cathedral in 1903, and then as residentiary canon in 1909.

Natural history

In addition to his ecclesiastical duties he maintained a

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

and collected plants throughout Hampshire and

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, being regarded as the leading botanist of his county. While in Droxford, he became aware of the work of the local seventeenth century botanist,

John Goodyer John Goodyer (1592–1664) was a botanist who lived in south-east Hampshire, England, all his life. He amassed a large collection of botanical texts which were bequeathed to Magdalen College, Oxford, and translated a number of classical texts ...

of Alton and Droxford, whose work had lain forgotten for 300 years. He published his findings in 1909, and is credited as the "discoverer" of Goodyer.

Selected publications

* ''A short history of Portchester Castle'' (1894) * ''A short memoir of Mary Sumner: founder of the Mothers' Union'' * ''Lighter studies of a country rector'' * ''A mirror of the soul, short studies in the Psalter'' * ''Winchester Cathedral close: its historical and literary associations'' * ''The Wildflowers of Selborne, and other papers'' (1906) John Lane, London * * '' Winchester Cathedral, Its Monuments and Memorials'' (1919). London: Selwyn & Blount. * ''The music of wild flowers'' (1920)

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland: Rev Canon John Vaughan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughan, John English botanists 20th-century English Anglican priests English religious writers 1855 births 1922 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests