Fourth surviving son of Samuel Vaughan (q.v.), born in Jamaica where he spent much of his life. Hon. Samuel Vaughan was a prominent member of island society, serving as Custos of St James, Assistant Judge of the Cornwall Assize Court and member of the House Assembly. After serving as an attorney he purchased Ridgeland estate from James Ricketts in the 1820s, where he subsequently died.
Although he never married he had several children. His youngest son John Thorpe Vaughan died in Falmouth, Jamaica in 1852.
Under the terms of his father's will, Samuel Vaughan junior received a legacy of £4000, as well as his father's library and mathematical and philosophical instruments, valued at £1000. He was to receive an additional £1000 upon marriage and a further £1000 upon the birth of his first child (these provisions applied to his brothers William and John as well). Samuel senior instructed that all his real and personal estate in Jamaica was to be sold within 7 years of his death and all his other assets be liquidated. In a codicil written in April 1797, Samuel Vaughan senior noted that his son Samuel junior had made certain offers to purchase his Jamaican coffee plantation and woodland, which if pending upon his decease should be continued and that Samuel junior should be given preference over any other bidder. Despite Samuel senior's instructions to sell his estates, most if not all of the plantations were still in family hands, and under the management of Samuel junior, at the time of his death in 1827.
Obituary of Hon. Samuel Vaughan, The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol.1:1827, p. 478.
Obituary of John T. Vaughan, Freemasons' Quarterly, Vol.1:1852, p. 215.
Vaughan Family Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, http://www.masshist.org/collection-guides/view/fa0040.
Will of Samuel Vaughan, 16/02/1803, TNA/PROB 11/1387/167.
We are grateful to Ron Kley for his assistance with compiling this entry.
