Robert Vaughan (antiquary)

Though these were common enough pursuits for the rural gentry of the time, Vaughan devoted himself to them with great energy and diligence, as well as to the collection of early manuscripts and books which he amassed at Hengwrt, preserving many unique texts which might otherwise have been lost.

He was able to increase his holdings further after making an arrangement with the calligrapher and manuscript collector John Jones of Gellilyfdy, Flintshire, in which one would combine both collections on the other's death.

[3] Vaughan also transcribed texts himself, carried out genealogical research, made an English translation of the Brut y Tywysogion (or Chronicle of the Princes), and wrote several short historical tracts as well as the book British Antiquities Revived, first published at Oxford in 1662.

His daughter Jane was amongst the Quakers who emigrated to Pennsylvania in the late 17th century under the leadership of Rowland Ellis.

[2] In 1905, after a long period of negotiation, Sir John Williams acquired a reversionary interest in the manuscripts from the Wynne family of Peniarth, William Watkin Wynne (1801–1880) having added substantially to the collection after being bequeathed it by Sir Robert Vaughan (1803–1859), the Member of Parliament for Merioneth.