The Earl Carbery | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by Godfrey Kneller | |
| Governor of Jamaica | |
| In office 1675–1678 | |
| Monarch | Charles II |
| Preceded by | Sir Henry Morgan |
| Succeeded by | Sir Henry Morgan |
| 7th President of the Royal Society | |
| In office 1686–1689 | |
| Preceded by | Samuel Pepys |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Herbert |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 July 1639 |
| Died | 12 January 1713 (aged 73) |
John Vaughan, 3rd Earl of Carbery KB, FRS (baptised 8 July 1639 – 12 January 1713), styled Lord Vaughan from 1643 to 1686, was a Welsh nobleman and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Jamaica between 1675 and 1678.
He was the second son of Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery, and his second wife Frances (c.1621 – 9 October 1650), daughter of Sir John Altham of Oxhey, Watford, Hertfordshire. He inherited his title and the Carmarthenshire estate (Golden Grove) in 1686 on the death of his father. His elder brother Francis had already died.
He was invested as a Knight, Order of the Bath (KB) in April 1661. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Carmarthen between 1661 and 1679 and again for Carmarthenshire between 1679 and 1689.[citation needed] He served as the governor of Jamaica from 1674 to 1678.[1] His deputy was the celebrated privateer and fellow Welshman Sir Henry Morgan. During his tenure as governor, he unsuccessfully tried to defeat the Jamaican Maroons, who were led at the time by Juan de Serras.
He had a reputation for debauchery; Samuel Pepys described him as "the lewdest fellow of the age". Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, whose impeachment Vaughan strongly supported, called him a man who was "as ugly in face as in fame". As governor of Jamaica, he became notorious for corruption, and was even accused of selling his servants into slavery.
He was President of the Royal Society between 1686 and 1689, having been elected a Fellow in 1685. He was Colonel of the Regiment of Foot from 1673 to 1674 and Lord of the Admiralty from 1689 to 1690.
On his death his titles became extinct. His estates passed to a cousin, another John Vaughan (1693–1765), who rebuilt the Golden Grove mansion.
Vaughan married twice, first to Mary Brown, daughter of George Brown of Green Castle; they had no children. He remarried on 10 October 1682 to Anne Savile, daughter of George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax and his first wife, Lady Dorothy Spencer. They had two children;
