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HUGH VAUGHAN OF HENGWRT (d1783)

Half-length portrait, pastel on card, circa1775. This pastel is in its original gilt gesso moulded oval frame: and has a label on the reverse:

“Hugh Vaughan of Hengwrt, Nannau, elder brother of Sir Robert Howell Vaughan, 1st Baronet, see Cornhill Magazine for Oct. 1884 p414  ‘a glimpse of Wales 100 years ago’”.

(Frame Measurements)
10.5" wide, 12.75" high
27 cms wide, 33 cms high

Ref: 9934

£ 2800

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THE VAUGHANS OF NANNAU

Nannau near Dolgellau was the home of one of the leading native gentry families in the Tudor period and an important centre of bardic patronage.

In 1719, after the death of Colonel Huw Nannau (father of Katherine Exhibit 1), his elder daughter Janet married her cousin Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt, establishing the pre-eminent family in Meirionydd. Their son, Hugh (Exhibit 2), lived a lavish lifestyle in London and at his mansion, virtually bankrupting the estate before fleeing his creditors. He was succeeded by his brother whose son, Sir Robert Willames Vaughan re-built the mansion and continued the family occupation of Member of Parliament, representing the county on fourteen successive occassions. His son, also Sir Robert Williames Vaughan (Exhibit 3) married Frances Lloyd of Rhagett (Exhibit 4) in 1835. One of the guests, W.W.E. Wynne of Peniarth wrote to the groom of the occassion:
“The feeling manifested in the neighbourhood was really worthy of old times when the words Radical and Reform were unknown.”

The items on display here have remained in the family until this year, when they were disposed of by a descendant of the original owners.