John Vaughan, 2nd Viscount Lisburne (c.1695 – 15 January 1741) was a Welsh landowner and Whig politician who sat in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

from 1727 to 1734. Apparently a heavy drinker, who kept several mistresses, he informally separated from his second wife in 1729 after she had an affair with his land agent. His spending badly impaired the financial soundness of his estate, and his brother and successor had to contend with the claims of Lisburne's wife's son on the estate.

Family life

Vaughan was the eldest son of John Vaughan, 1st Viscount Lisburne, who was ennobled in the

Irish peerage The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

around the time of the younger John's birth. His mother was Lady Malet Wilmot, daughter of

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1 April 1647 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 26 July 1680 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English poet and courtier of King Charles II of England, Charles II's Restoration (England), ...

. Vaughan appears to have led a dissipated life even before succeeding his father to his estates in 1721. He married Anne Bennet, daughter of Sir John Bennett. She died on 31 July 1723, shortly before her father, without children. He also had a number of mistresses. During the Christmas season of 1724/5, Lisburne was staying with various gentry in the Severn valley. He and many of the other guests were drinking freely to celebrate the season. Invited to a concert hosted by Sir John Pryce, 5th Baronet, Lisburne was observed to be paying attention to Dorothy, the daughter of Captain Richard Hill. Lady Pryce, worried about the possible consequences, sent Dorothy and her sister back to their father's house at Henblas. Later that day, Captain Hill invited Lisburne to Henblas and encouraged him to drink heavily; he awoke in confusion and attempted to leave the next morning, but was persuaded by Dorothy to stay. Further drinking ensued, and Hill convinced Lisburne to marry his daughter, who was much below him in fortune and social station. The ceremony took place on 10 January 1725. Witnesses in later years disagreed on their behavior towards each other, but the first few years of their marriage seem to have been more or less orderly. Lisburne settled a

jointure Jointure was a legal concept used largely in late mediaeval and early modern Britain, denoting the estate given to a married couple by the husband's family. One of its most important functions was providing a livelihood for the wife if she became ...

of £400 on his wife, charged on the

Trawsgoed is a community and an estate in Ceredigion, Wales. The estate is southeast of Aberystwyth, and has been in the possession of the Vaughan family since 1200.

estate, and in 1727, she gave birth to a daughter, Malet. In that year, he left for London to take up a seat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

and does not appear to have returned to Wales for two years, while his wife and daughter remained there. In 1729, the vicar of

Llanfihangel y Creuddyn Llanfihangel y Creuddyn () is an ancient parish in the upper division of the hundred of Ilar, Ceredigion, West Wales, 7 miles south east from Aberystwyth, on the road to Rhayader, comprising the chapelry of Eglwys Newydd, or Llanfihangel y Cre ...

wrote to him to tell him that his wife was suspected of an affair with her brother-in-law, David Lloyd, Lisburne's land agent. Lisburne rather leisurely returned from London by way of Montgomeryshire, in the company of his sister Letitia and his current mistress, Mrs. Phillips, one of Letitia's servants. After several weeks of conflict, Dorothy declared her intention of returning to her father at Henblas; Lisburne provided her with horses, and she left his estate and her daughter behind. Lisburne apparently considered a divorce, but this would have been extremely expensive and difficult at the time. There was no formal separation, but they did not see each other, and when Dorothy became pregnant in 1733, the father was believed to be either Lloyd, or Edward Glynne of Glynne, although the son she bore was baptised as Edward Vaughan. Lisburne had shunned his wife, but still kept mistresses; reportedly robbed of plate and valuables in Dublin by one of his Irish mistresses, Mrs. Roach, he thereafter took up with a Mrs. Anne Savage, who "lived with him like a wife to his death". He had a natural son by her, named John Vaughan. In his will of May 1740, he left a bequest of up to £500 for John's maintenance, and his property in Ireland and some other goods to Anne, while his estates in Great Britain were to go to his brother Wilmot. Two natural daughters, Mary and Jane, were left £10 each to be apprenticed. Malet was to receive £3000 if she obeyed her guardian, her uncle Wilmot. However, a second will of January 1741 removed the bequest to Malet (who was otherwise provided for); Anne would receive £800 for the maintenance of their son, Mary and Jane £60 each, and all his goods were to go to Wilmot. Upon Lisburne's death in 1741, Wilmot immediately took possession of the estate and notified the tenants not to accept the claims of Dorothy and her son Edward. After extensive litigation, Dorothy obtained payment of her jointure from Wilmot, who made a great deal of difficulty; the estate was mortgaged and yielded only £1000 per year, and was also charged with a provision for Malet. Dorothy and Edward spent several years pursuing litigation to have him recognized as the rightful Viscount, but in 1754, just before it would have gone to trial, they settled with Wilmot and dropped all claims to the estate in exchange for an

annuity In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals based on a contract with a lump sum of money. Insurance companies are common annuity providers and are used by clients for things like retirement or death benefits. Examples ...

Politics

Vaughan succeeded his father as Viscount Lisburne in 1721, and was also appointed his successor as

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ov ...

and Custos Rotulorum of Cardiganshire. Lisburne's father had been a Whig, and zealous in defending

Cardiganshire Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Ab ...

during the

Jacobite rising of 1715 The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( ; or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Francis Edward Stuart, James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland ...

, and Lisburne followed his lead in politics. At the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

, the sitting member for

was

Francis Cornwallis Francis Cornwallis (c. 1692–1728) of Abermarlais, was a Welsh Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1722 to 1728. Cornwallis was the only son of Thomas Cornwallis of Abermarlais, Carmarthenshire, and his wife Emma Charlton, dau ...

, a Tory supported by the interests of the Pryses of

Gogerddan Gogerddan (also spelled Gogarthen) was an estate near to Trefeurig and the most important in what was then the county of Cardiganshire, Wales. Owned since at least the fifteenth century by the Pryse family, the main house, called Plas Gogerdda ...

and the Powells of Nanteos. He switched to stand for Cardigan, and the Tories put up Thomas Powell, then sitting for Cardigan, for the county. The Pryse interest was hindered by the minority of Thomas Pryse, head of the family, and Lisburne defeated Powell to take the Cardiganshire seat. In Parliament, Lisburne supported

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...

's administration on the proposed

excise tax 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 ...

in 1733 and in opposing the attempt to repeal the

Septennial Act The Septennial Act 1715 ( 1 Geo. 1. St. 2. c. 38), sometimes called the Septennial Act 1716, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain. It was passed in May 1716. It increased the maximum length of a parliament (and hence the maximum perio ...

in 1734. He did not stand for Parliament again in 1734. In 1737, he was prosecuted by

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

for rent owed on Crown estates, but the prosecution was suspended in the following year. Lisburne died on 15 January 1741 and was succeeded by his brother Wilmot. His natural daughter Elizabeth married

Thomas Newton Thomas Newton (1 January 1704 – 14 February 1782) was an English cleric, biblical scholar and author. He served as the Bishop of Bristol from 1761 to 1782. Biography Newton was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and was subsequently elec ...

Bishop of Bristol The Bishop of Bristol heads the Church of England Diocese of Bristol in the Province of Canterbury, in England. The present diocese covers parts of the counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire together with a small area of Wiltshire. The see ...

Notes

Citations

References

* * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lisburne, John Vaughan, 2nd Viscount 1690s births 1741 deaths Lord-lieutenants of Cardiganshire Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland British MPs 1727–1734 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...