She was the youngest daughter of the philanthropist John Vaughan (1663–1722), a patron of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (SPCK) schools in the county, and his wife, Elizabeth Thomas (d. 1721).

On 30 December 1721 at Merthyr church, she married a local lawyer and Member of Parliament for Carmarthen, Arthur Bevan (1689–1743).

It is estimated that at this time half the population of Wales had attended a circulating school, and the nation achieved one of the highest literacy rates in Europe.

[4] By 1764 news of the success of this educational initiative had reached the ears of Catherine the Great of Russia, who ordered her ministers to make enquiries about the scheme.

Admiral William Lloyd, however, disputed her will and the case went into Chancery, where it remained for a period of thirty years, and grew to over £30,000.