William Vaughan (writer)
Encyclopedia
Life
He was the son of Walter Vaughan (died 1598) and was born at Golden Grove, CarmarthenshireGolden Grove, Carmarthenshire
Golden Grove is a mansion and estate in the Welsh county of Carmarthenshire located southwest of Llandeilo.-History:There have been three mansions on the estate. The first was built on the site in 1560 by the Vaughan family who were later ennobled as the Earls of Carbery. This was destroyed by...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
—his father's estate. He was descended from an ancient prince of Powys
Powys
Powys is a local-government county and preserved county in Wales.-Geography:Powys covers the historic counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, most of Brecknockshire , and a small part of Denbighshire — an area of 5,179 km², making it the largest county in Wales by land area.It is...
. He was brother to John Vaughan, 1st Earl of Carbery
John Vaughan, 1st Earl of Carbery
John Vaughan, 1st Earl of Carbery was a Welsh courtier and politician. He served Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and later Prince Charles, heir to the throne of King James I...
(1572−1634) and Henry Vaughan (1587−1659), a well-known Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
leader in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. William was educated at Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...
, where he matriculated on 4 February 1592, and graduated B.A. on 1 March 1595, M.A. on 16 November 1597. He supplicated for the law degree of B.C.L. on 3 December 1600, but before taking its he went abroad, travelled in France and Italy, and visited Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, where he proceeded LL.D., being incorporated at Oxford on 23 June 1605.
In 1616 he bought a grant of land, the southern Avalon Peninsula
Avalon Peninsula
The Avalon Peninsula is a large peninsula that makes up the southeast portion of the island of Newfoundland.The peninsula is home to 257,223 people, which is approximately 51% of Newfoundland's population in 2009, and is the location of the provincial capital, St. John's. It is connected to the...
(from Calvert
Calvert, Newfoundland and Labrador
Calvert is an unincorporated Canadian settlement in the Ferryland District of Newfoundland and Labrador, on the Irish loop, 72 kilometres south of the provincial capital St. John's. It is 7 kilometres south of Cape Broyle, and 3 kilometres north of Ferryland...
to Placentia Bay
Placentia Bay
Placentia Bay is a body of water on the southeast coast of Newfoundland, Canada. It is formed by Burin Peninsula on the west and Avalon Peninsula on the east. Fishing grounds in the bay were used by native people long before the first European fishermen arrived in the 16th century. For a time, the...
) of the island of Newfoundland, from the London and Bristol Company
London and Bristol Company
The London and Bristol Company came about in the early 17th century when English merchants had begun to express an interest in the Newfoundland fishery. Financed by a syndicate of investors John Guy, himself a Bristol merchant, visited Newfoundland in 1608 to locate a favourable site for a colony...
. In 1617 he sent Welsh colonists to Renews to establish a permanent colony, which he called Cambriol
Cambriol
Cambriol or New Cambriol was the name given to one of North America's early English colonies established by Sir William Vaughan...
; it eventually failed. The colonists were ill equipped, without an experienced leader, and had built for themselves mere shacks for shelter for the winter. In 1618 Vaughan sent out a second batch of settlers under the command of Richard Whitbourne
Richard Whitbourne
Sir Richard Whitbourne was an English colonist, author and mariner.Richard Whitbourne was born near Teignmouth in Devon, England. Whilst apprenticed to a merchant adventurer of Southampton, he sailed extensively around Europe and twice to Newfoundland. He served in a ship of his own against the...
, whom he appointed governor for life of the undertaking.
By 1619 Vaughan signed over part of his grant to Henry Cary
Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland
Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland ; son of a Hertfordshire knight; said to have studied at Oxford; served abroad; gentleman of the bedchamber to King James I; K.B., 1608; controller of the household, 1617-21; created Viscount Falkland in the Scottish peerage, 1620; lord-deputy of Ireland, 1622;...
. Vaughan’s brother had convinced him to also to give up a portion of his tract to George Calvert, the area around Ferryland
Ferryland, Newfoundland and Labrador
Ferryland is a town in Newfoundland and Labrador on the Avalon Peninsula. According to the 2006 Statistics Canada census, its population is 529. Addresses in Ferryland use the alphanumerically lowest postal codes in Canada, starting with A0A....
. This area George Calvert had established his Colony of Avalon.
Vaughan retained the southern portion of his tract determined by a line drawn from Renews to Placentia Bay, an area that included Trepassey. Further attempts at colonizing Trepassey
Trepassey, Newfoundland and Labrador
Trepassey , is a small fishing community located in Trepassey Bay on the south eastern corner of the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was in Trepassey Harbour where the flight of the Friendship took off, piloted by Amelia Earhart...
on two occasions had also failed. After the return of Whitbourne, Vaughan visited his colony in 1622, and returned to England in 1625, bringing with him two works ready for publication.
Vaughan apparently paid another visit to Cambriol, but his plans for its prosperity were foiled by the severe winters. In 1628 he transferred his interests to the colony of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. He died at his house of Torcoed, Carmarthenshire, in August 1641.
Works
His chief work is The Golden Grove (1600), a general guide to morals, politics and literature, in which the manners of the time are severely criticized, plays being denounced as folly and wickedness. The section in praise of poetry borrows much from earlier writers on the subject.The Golden Fleece … transported from Cambriol Colchis, by Orpheus junior (1626) is the most interesting of his other works. A long and fantastic prose allegory
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
, it demonstrates "the Errours of Religion, the Vices and Decayes of the Kingdome, and lastly the wayes to get wealth, and to restore Trading" through the colonization of Newfoundland.