Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Vaughan, Henry (1809-1899)
VAUGHAN, HENRY (1809–1899), art collector, son of George Vaughan and Elizabeth Andrews, his wife, was born on 17 April 1809 in Southwark, where his father carried on a successful business as a hat manufacturer. He was privately educated, and in 1828, on the death of his father, succeeded to a large fortune. He travelled much and became a cultivated and enthusiastic collector of works of art, both ancient and modern, with a special predilection for the works of Turner, Stothard, Flaxman, and Constable. Of water-colour drawings by Turner, with whom he was personally acquainted, he formed a singularly fine series, and also of proofs of his 'Liber Studiorum.' He was elected a member of the Athenæum Club in 1849, and F.S.A. in 1879. He was one of the founders and most active members of the Burlington Fine Arts Club, and a constant contributor to its exhibitions. In 1886 he presented the celebrated 'Hay Wain' of Constable to the National Gallery, and in 1887 some fine drawings by Michel Angelo to the British Museum. He died, unmarried, at 28 Cumberland Terrace, Regent's Park, where he had resided since 1834, on 26 April 1899. By his will Vaughan distributed the whole of his art collections among public institutions, the list of his specific bequests occupying more than thirty folios (Times, 3 Jan. 1900). To the National Gallery he left his oil paintings, a series of Turner's original drawings for 'Liber Studiorum,' and studies by Reynolds, Leslie, and Constable. The British Museum received his drawings by old masters; a large collection of studies by Flaxman and finished water-colours by Stothard and other English artists; also such of the 'Liber Studiorum' proofs as might be required. To the Victoria and Albert Museum he assigned his collections of stained glass and carved panels, and several drawings by Turner. The remainder of the Turner drawings he divided between the National Gallery of Ireland and the Royal Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts, Edinburgh. Some drawings by Flaxman, Stothard, and De Wint, the etchings by Rembrandt, and the remainder of the 'Liber Studiorum' went to University College, London. Vaughan bequeathed the bulk of his fortune to charitable and religious societies.
[Times, 27 Nov. 1899, 3 Jan. 1900, and 8 May 1901; Athenæum, 1899, ii. 767; private information.]