Francis John Vaughan (5 May 1877 – 13 March 1935) was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

who served as

Bishop of Menevia The Bishop of Menevia was the ordinary of the Diocese of Menevia in the Province of Cardiff in the Catholic Church in Wales. The Diocese of Menevia covered an area of roughly consisting of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot, ...

from 1926 to 1935. Vaughan was born in Courtfield,

Welsh Bicknor Welsh Bicknor () is an area in the far south of the English county of Herefordshire. Despite its name, it is not now in Wales, but it was historically a detached parish (exclave) of the county of Monmouthshire. It lies within a loop of the Riv ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

. An uncle was Cardinal

Herbert Vaughan Herbert Alfred Henry Joseph Thomas Vaughan (15 April 1832 – 19 June 1903) was an English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1892 until his death in 1903, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1893. ...

, Archbishop of Westminster until 1903. Two other uncles from this traditionally Welsh recusant family served as bishops, one as Archbishop of Sydney. Vaughan was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood on 5 July 1903. He was appointed the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the Diocese of Menevia by the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

on 21 June 1926. His

consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

to the

Episcopate A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

took place on 8 September 1926, the principal

consecrator A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches ...

was Archbishop Francis Mostyn of Cardiff, and the principal co-consecrators were Bishop

Joseph Thorman Joseph Thorman (6 August 1871 – 7 October 1936) was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle from 1924 to 1936. Born in Gateshead, County Durham on 6 August 1871, he was ordained to the priest ...

of Hexham and Newcastle and Bishop Thomas Dunn of Nottingham. He was installed on 14 September 1926. He died in office at his Bishop's House in Wrexham on 13 March 1935, aged 57, and was buried in

Wrexham Cemetery Wrexham Cemetery () is a Victorian garden cemetery in Wrexham, North Wales, which served as the main burial site for the city. It opened in 1876, to the park-like designs of Yeaman Strachan, while its grade II listed chapels and lodge were desi ...

in Ruabon Road.

References

External links

Courtfield Estate Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughan, Francis John 1877 births 1935 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Wales Clergy from Herefordshire Roman Catholic bishops of Menevia English Roman Catholic bishops