The Vaughans of Ruardean manor
The trail of my family interest in the Vaughans at Ruardean runs out at about 1660. In trying to pick up leads, it was impossible to ignore the land-owning Vaughans who had settled in the area earlier in the 1600s. A link to this family would enable the ancestry to be carried back to 1400 and earlier. So far, this link has not been found, but on this page I set out what I have learned of this family so far.
The Vaughans were major landowners in medieval times in the border counties of Radnor and Hereford, their holdings including Bredwardine castle, Hergest, and Moccas (1). They can be traced back to Sir Roger Vaughan of Bredwardine, who married Gladys, daughter of Sir David Gam, and was killed at Agincourt, fighting alongside Henry V. Their second son Thomas, of Hergest, near Kington (whence came the famous Welsh manuscript the Red Book of Hergest: legends about "Black Vaughan" and the Phantom Black Dog are widely known and recounted in "Malvern Chase") married Helen, daughter of Gethin of Llywaint, county Radnor (herself a descendant of the Vaughans of Tiliglas). He was killed at the battle of Banbury. Their second son was Roger Vaughan of Clyro. His great grandson was also Roger Vaughan of Clyro, who led a prominent public life in both Radnor and Brecknockshire having been High Sheriff of both counties and M.P. for 11 years for Radnorshire. He bought Kinnersley Castle, in Herefordshire, between 1587 and 1601 (it appears that his name does not appear in public life in Radnorshire after 1587, and he was living at Kinnersley in 1601) and rebuilt it at great expense. His crest is over the fireplace in the drawing room and on the drawing room door and probably, but much worn, on the headstone over the South Gable. He died in 1607.
His son John Vaughan married Joan Baynham (ab Einon) of Clearwell, Newland, Gloucestershire, Lady of Abenhall and Micheldean. She was also heiress of the Manor of Ruardean. Its history, according to Bigland (2) writing in about 1788, was as follows: part of the manorial estate of de Bykenor which included Ruardean passed to the Hatheways. Sibill Hatheway married W. Walwyn. It then passed to their daughter Alice who married Thomas Baynham. In Men and Armour (3) the Lords of Ruardean are stated as still being Thomas Baynham and Joseph Baynham, so the inheritance had not taken place by 1608: in fact there are no Vaughans listed for Ruardean or Newland at all (i.e., no able-bodied men capable of military service). For a list of Vaughans from Men and Armour, 19 in all, click here.
John Vaughan died in 1618 leaving as heir his son Baynham Vaughan. Joan, like the Vaughans a staunch Catholic, sold Kinnersley in that year to Francis Smallman (a younger son of the Elton family of that name, who after serving as M.P. for Leominster in 1620 died at Kinnersley in 1633) and retired to her own property in Gloucestershire, where she suffered for her faith all her life including being imprisoned at Gloucester in 1641 for treason.
By the Baynham inheritance, lands at and near Ruardean had passed to the Clyro/Kinnersley Vaughans, but what can be gained by marriage can also be lost. Baynham's heir John Vaughan and his wife left an only daughter, Mary, 1648-1717), as heir. She married (confusingly) into another branch of Vaughans, those of Courtfield (Welsh Bicknor) inheriting Ruardean and Clyro on John's death in 1694. The history of the Courtfield Vaughans is interesting, particularly in the area of recusancy, and their line is still extant. It seems that they adopted the Arms of the Clyro/Kinnersley Vaughans from this female connection (contrary to heraldic practice), and also perpetuated the Baynham name from that connection into the 20th century. But of Mary Vaughan, who brought the Ruardean inheritance to Courtfield, there is now no trace: her headstone, removed with others from the church at Welsh Bicknor during rebuilding works in 1858 to the crypt of the chapel at Courtfield, has since vanished.
[Welsh Bicknor, across the river from Ruardean was once a detached parish in Monmouthshire, but was transferred to Herefordshire by two acts of Parliament passed respectively in the reigns of William IV and Victoria (1844). Welsh Bicknor parish records are now held by Hereford Record Office. It is said that the prince who would become King Henry was brought up at Courtfield when it was known as Greenfield, it subsequently being renamed in his honour.]
To return to Baynham Vaughan and the Ruardean Vaughans, there were a number of inscriptions on altar tombs in the nave at St. John the Baptist church at Ruardean described by Bigland in 1788, which a later editor notes were "not there in 1872". (Mary Vaughan's headstone was last recorded in 1858: was there an attempt in the mid 1800s to expunge the original Ruardean Vaughans from history?) Put into a logical order, they were as follows.
Here lyeth the body of BAYNHAM VAUGHAN, of Ruerdean, esq. who departed this life July the 11th, 1650 in the 45th year of his age.
Also here lyeth his eldest son JOHN VAUGHAN
esq. who piously ended his days Dec. the 17 1694, being the 58th Year of his
Age. According to Bigland, on a pew were written the words "This was
erected by John Vaughan Anno 1694". These Vaughans were also Catholic, but
nevertheless John was a regular worshipper at Ruardean church (photo of
interior, below).
Here lyeth the body of FRANCES VAUGHAN, Wife to John Vaughan esq. Daughter to Sir Peter Browne of Kiddington in the County of Oxford, Baronet. She departed this life the 5th day of June 1694.
Here lyeth the Body of My Deare Friende and Cozen THOMAS VAUGHAN, 2nd son of BAYNHAM VAUGHAN Esq, who died Febr. the 10th 1601 in the 54th Year of his Age. (NOTE: this only makes sense if the date was 1701 or similar? The Baynham connection to Vaughan began in ~ 1605).
In memory of Roger Vaughan. He died Oct 7th 1719. Described as "Gent" in the parish register. This is the first appearance in the Ruardean registers for these Vaughans. Presumably these memorials were installed by a Vaughan (my deare friend and cozen) some time after 1719, when enmity toward Catholics had eased. Recorded by Bigland in about 1788, as noted earlier they had been removed by 1872.
The Vaughan arms as displayed on the tomb were described: "Sable a chevron between three Boys-heads coupt at the Shoulders, argent, crined Or. enwrapped about the Neck with a Snake proper". They can still be seen above the church door in the porch. The arms of the Hergest Vaughans are very similar, and the number of differences would show the number of times the descent from Thomas of Hergest came from other than the first son.
And on a flat stone in the church (not now visible, being covered with red carpets since 1987):
In memory of Elizabeth, Wife of .....Vaughan, ..... ...... . Also in memory of RICHARD VAUGHAN, of this parish, who departed this life 19th day of Dec. 1730 Aged 77 years.
The tree for the Ruardean Vaughans in the Visitations of Gloucester 1682-3 gives the following:
It is evident that this tree is not complete as the Richard and Roger mentioned above do not appear. I hope that further research will give a fuller picture.
References
1. A History of the Mansions and Manors of Herefordshire, Rev. Charles J. Robinson, 1872 (republished by Books and Book Services, Palace Yard Bookshop, Hereford).
2. Historical, Monumental and Genealogical Collections relative to the county of Gloucester, ed. B. Frith, 1989-95, published by the Gloucester Record Society. ISBN 0 900197 28 5, 0900197 30 7, 0 900197 34 X and 0 900197 40 4. Copies at Gloucester RO.
3. Men and Armour for Gloucestershire in 1608. Republished 1980 by Alan Sutton. ISBN 0904387496. Copy at Gloucester RO.
23/12/06