A Brief Memoir of the Life of Robert Vaughan,
of Hengwrt, Esq.
1592 – 1667
BY ROBERT SAUNDERSON (Bala, Wales, March 1, 1834)
The Age of Robert Vaughan
. The seventeenth century was fertile in great characters, in the state and in the church, as well as in every
department of science and literature. It was a period in our history full of action and enquiry, lamentable
indeed often in its progress, but terminating in many beneficial results. — In the literary annals of the
Principality [of Wales] no name stands higher than that of Robert Vaughan; but much as he contributed to
raise the reputation of his country, it is to be regretted that our accounts of him and his studies are so
slender. That was not an age of memoir and anecdote; men were satisfied with discharging their private and
public duties, and but little solicitous to gratify curiosity by details of their own or of the private life and
habits of others.
Heritage
. Robert Vaughan, as Wood in his Athænæ justly says, was of an “eminent and genteel family in
Merionethshire,” being the eldest son of Howel Vaughan, Esq. and Margaret his wife, a grand-daughter of
Lewis Owen, Chamberlain and Baron of North Wales, whose tragical death at a place called since Llidiart y
Barwn, or the Baron’s Gate, near Dinas Bowddu, is to this day a subject of horror and reprobation among
our countrymen. [Vide Pennant’s Wales, and Yorke’s Royal Tribes.] Mr. Vaughan was born in 1592, at
Hengwrt, near Dolgelleu; his grand-father having married the heiress of that place, had removed the
family mansion from Gwengraig, where his ancestors had resided for many generations. But the seat of the
parent or original stock was Nannau, from which in the sixth descent from Cadwgan of Nannau, the second
son of Bleddyn ap Cynvyn, the founder of the Royal Tribe of that name, Howel Vychan separated and
settled at Gwengraig. And it is somewhat extraordinary, that after many ages and changes in human
affairs, the two branches became united again, and remain so at this day in their patriotic descendant and
representative, Sir Robert Williames Vaughan, of Nannau, Baronet, and Member of Parliament for the
County of Merioneth.
Schooling
. It is often gratifying to trace the earliest steps of those who have done honour or service to their country;
but at this distance of time we have no certain information under what masters or at what school Robert
Vaughan was first educated. When he was about twenty years of age he entered in 1612 a Commoner of Oriel
College in Oxford. Having passed through the regular course of studies pursued at that period in Logic and
Philosophy, he left the University without taking a degree, and retired to his patrimony at Hengwrt in his
native county.
Studying antiquities
. Enjoying the advantages of a good estate, and incited by a patriotic spirit, he here cultivated those studies
that have rendered his name so celebrated, and of such authority on all subjects connected with British
history and antiquities. To this end also he was engaged in an extensive correspondence with persons of
similar taste and pursuits, among whom we may with pride justly enumerate the great and good Archbishop
Usher, two of his letters to whom are printed in the life of that prelate by his chaplain Parr, and also in the
second volume of that excellent work the Cambrian Register. In one of these letters it is grievous to find
Mr. Vaughan obliged to tell his friend, “My love and zeal to know the truth and certainty of things past
moves me sometimes to a passion, when I call to mind the idle and slothful life of my countrymen, who, in the
revolution of a thousand years almost, afford but only Caradoc of Lancarvan, and the continuation
therof, to register any thing, to purpose, of the acts of the Princes of Wales, that I could come by, or hear
of, some piece-meals excepted.” With Sir Symonds D’Ewes, an eminent antiquarian of his day, and the learned
Selden, he corresponded on the ancient British laws and philology, and gave them his assistance in their
researches on these points. In all his letters his modesty in propounding his opinions is observable, and
exceeded only by his learning. Another of his friends and correspondents was the Rev. Thomas Ellis, B. D.
born at Dolbenmaen, in Caernarvonshire, some time Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, and latterly rector of
Dolgelleu. Mr. Ellis was elected Fellow of his College when Dr. Mansell was Principal, who was noted for
his prudence and impartiality in selecting young men of talent and conduct on the foundation. Much indeed
of the welfare of the Principality, and particularly of its Church, will always depend on the discipline and
learning maintained in that society. “Ellis,” as Wood says, “was a person of solid learning, and a singular
lover of the antiquities of his country.” He left behind in manuscript a History of the Life of Owain
Glyndwr, which was afterwards published by the Rev. John Thomas, Head Master of Beaumaris School, as an
Appendix to his Supplement of Rowland’s Mona Antiqua. In one of his letters to the Archbishop, alluding to
the troubles of the times, and his own abhorrence of them, Mr. Vaughan speaks of his friend Ellis, as one
“who in these dangerous times hath suffered many assaults and storms from his adversaries, with patience
and constancy.”
Avoidance of idle pursuits
. From the following imperfect account of his labours, it is evident Mr. Vaughan was seldom idle. He wrote
notes or commentaries on the manuscript book of Basingwerk Abbey — on Nennius — on the Triads, together
with an English translation — on Caradoc of Lancarvan’s Brut or Chronicle, with a collation of ten
several copies, on vellum — on Leland’s New Year’s Gift — on Burton’s Antoninus — on Dr. Powel’s
History of Wales — on Usher’s Primordia — Ball’s Catalogus Scriptorum — Annals of Wales from
Vortigern downwards, translated from the original into English, with notes — a short Account of the
Family of Cors y Gedol — a Topography of Merionethshire — and a Tour to St. David’s, being short and
cursory notices of the places he passed through, in going and returning.
Chief work
. But his chief work, and the only one published in his life-time, is the British Antiquities Revived, to which is
added the Pedigree of the Earl of Carbery, and a short Account of the Five Royal Tribes of Cambria. The
object of this work was to put an end to a controversy then subsisting in the Principality on the
primogeniture of the sons of Roderic the Great, who, on the unhappy division of his kingdom, had given the
northern parts of Wales to Anarawd, the southern to Cadell, and Powys to Mervyn. In after times, the
south Welshmen contended that their Cadell was the eldest of the three; but this is denied with such zeal
and effect by our author that the advocates of Cadell have ever since given up the contest in favour of
Anarawd. The dispute may appear to us in these degrading days unimportant; but it was not so then: and the
learning and force of argument, together with the clearness of the language brought to bear on the
subject, as well as many collateral points, will give it always an interest in the eye of an enquirer into the
details of the history of the Principality of Wales.
Importance of manuscripts
. The art of printing having not yet become common, British literature was at this time, and for many years
afterwards, confined almost exclusively to manuscripts; and these, after the dilapidation of the
monasteries in which they had been religiously preserved, had now fallen into a multitude of hands, were
widely scattered, and rudely neglected. It was therefore of much consequence, and Mr. Vaughan saw the
necessity, and probably was the only one of his age capable for the task, of bringing together, arranging,
and illustrating these ancient treasures. To this end he spared neither pains nor expence [sic.] to procure
original copies, or correct transcripts. As a proof of the zeal and diligence with which he pursued his object,
we may mention the manuscript Book of Llandaff, or Liber Landavensis. The original had been long before
conveyed to England, and not a copy was to be found in Wales; but Mr. Vaughan knew the original to have
been once in the possession of Selden, who was late dead. [Notwithstanding the vastness of his learning, and
all the books he had ever read and digested, Selden observed towards the close of his life, that nothing of
them all gave him so much solid satisfaction as a single passage of St. Paul — Titus, chap. ii. verses 11,-14.] He
therefore became very anxious to get the book, or an accurate copy of it. For this purpose he wrote several
letters to his friend Mr. Merdydd Lloyd of Welshpool, and his cousin Mr. Herbert of Llwyn Iorwerth, in
Cardiganshire, and also to Mr. Vaughan of Trawscoed. At last he offers to enter into a bond, in
conjunction with his son Robert, to a considerable amount, to warrant the security of the manuscript;
which, after much enquiry, was at length discovered in the public library at Oxford, and transmitted to him.
[Vide Cambrian Register, Vol III.]
Extent of personal library
. By these means the Library at Hengwrt amounted at last to one hundred and sixty five volumes in
manuscript, many of which were of very ancient date, on vellum, and several of them were copies in Mr.
Vaughan’s own hand-writing, in which he much excelled, or in the hand-writing of a ready amanuensis, whom
he constantly employed. These volumes exhibit not only much perseverance and labour, but most of them
are made doubly valuable by the judicious observations and copious additions of Robert Vaughan. Of the
collection indeed twenty eight volumes were in the hand-writing of Mr. [John] Jones of Gelli Lyfdy, near
Caerwys, Flintshire, it having been mutually agreed upon between them, that the survivor should become
the possessor of the manuscript treasures of the other; and therefore on Mr. Jones dying first, his writings
were removed to Hengwrt: and this was fortunate, for Jones was merely a zealous transcriber, pursuing his
labours for nearly half a century with much industry, but not always with judgement. Another
cotemporary [sic.] collector was Mr. William Maurice of Cefn y Braich, in Llansilin, Denbighshire, who
delighted in the designation of Llansiliensis at the foot of his labours. Maurice made a catalogue of the
Hengwrt Library, of which there is a copy in the Library at Mostyn, another at Plasgwyn in Anglesey, and
a transcript in the possession of that eminent British scholar and bard, the Rev. Walter Davies, the present
worthy Rector of Manafon, Montgomeryshire.
Immense value of library
. The difficulties attendant on forming such a collection by one person, we cannot now adequately
appreciate: the benefit and advantages however of having a Library of such original materials, in the
Principality, have been invariably acknowledged, and the name of Vaughan mentioned with sentiments of
esteem and obligation by every author almost from that day to this who has written on the early history of
the kingdom. In his valuable additions to Camden, Bishop Gibson has in many copious extracts availed
himself of the learning of Robert Vaughan; and Bishop Nicholson, in his Historical Library, or view of the
early writers of this kingdom, speaks most highly of him. Mr. Edward Llwyd, in a letter to Humphrey
Wanley, dated Swansea, Sept. 14, 1796, says, “Mr. Robert Vaughan was the first in these latter days that
could read the inscription on Eliseg’s column, near the Valle Crucis Abbey.” He sent a copy of it to
Archbishop Usher, and the Primate sent one to Dr. Langbaine. Mr. Vaughan probably took his copy whilst
the column was standing, before the Cromwellians threw it from its pedestal. Mr. Kynaston of Pant y
Byrsle took a transcript of Mr. Vaughan’s inscription, from which there is every reason to believe that now
in general circulation was taken. To these testimonies may be added the names of the late Evan Evans,
Warrington, Yorke, and those two eminent Welsh scholars, Dr. William Owen Pugh, and the Rev. Walter
Davies.
Fate of library
. Of the Library the greater part is still remaining, though much has been unhappily lost through negligence,
and much it is to be feared borrowed and never returned; but of late, many valuable manuscripts have been
recovered by the care and attention of Colonel Vaughan of Rug and Hengwrt, who takes just pride and
pleasure in possessing and preserving unimpaired those ancient treasures and labours of his ancestor, and in
furnishing the scholar, the bard, and the lover of antiquity with a ready access to them.
Erroneous attribution
. The Honourable Daines Barrington, in his Introduction to the History of the Gwydir Family, is inclined to
give Mr. Vaughan credit for skill in engraving, as his name is affixed to the well known portrait of Sir John
Wynne; and which he thinks also the more probable, as he was a particular friend of Sir John Wynne, as well
as of his son Sir Richard, to whom he dedicated his book, the “British Antiquities Revived.” The supposition
however must be a mistake, as Granger, whose authority on all such subjects is indisputable, positively says,
that the name under the portrait was that of another Robert Vaughan, a native of England. [Vide our
ingenious countrywoman Angharad Llwyd’s Edition of the history of the Gwydir Family: — and also
Granger, Vol. IV, p. 74.]
Other activities
. Occupied as Robert Vaughan must necessarily have been with his learned pursuits, he did not however
neglect the duties every one in his rank and station owes to society; for we are informed that he acted as a
magistrate in his neighbourhood; and though, from his love of study and retirement, he did not engage in the
bloody and unnatural conflicts of the civil war of those unhappy times, he maintained his loyalty inviolate,
and firmly adhered to the ancient institutions of his country.
Family
. He married Catharine daughter of Gruffydd Nannau, of Nannau, Esq. by whom he had eight children, the
eldest of whom, Hywel, succeeded his father in his estate. Having lived to a good old age, he died at his
beloved Hengwrt in the year 1666, and was buried in the parish church of Dolgelleu.
Pedigree of Robert Vaughan, of Hengwrt, Esq. (1592-1667) [size is 142 KB]
The chart accompanying the original biography carries the descent of male heirs down to 1834.
![Pedigree of Robert Vaughan, of Hengwrt, Esq. (1592-1667) [size is 142 KB]](gif/biog2714.gif){kind=link}