Background
Henry Vaughan was born in 1846 in England, United Kingdom.
Henry Vaughan was born in 1846 in England, United Kingdom.
He was trained under the famous English Gothlcist, George F. Bodley, and following several years of successful practice in Great Britian, came to this country in 1881, with the purpose (it was sometimes said) of interpreting Gothic architecture to America.
After establishing residence in Boston, Mr. Vaughan opened an office in the city, and in the ensuing years acquired a reputation in designing English Gothic churches and institutional buildings. Early in the 1900's he was invited by Mr. Bodley (then engaged on work in Hartford, Conn.) to assist in preparing a competitive design for a proposed Cathedral Church (S.S. Peter and Paul) in Washington, D. C., and in 1906 they were commissioned architects of the great edifice. After Mr. Bodley's death during the following year, Vaughan assumed full charge of the work, a task on which he was engaged until his own decease in 1917. Subsequently the firm of Frohman, Robb & Little of Boston were appointed as architects, and assisted by Cram & Ferguson, Consultants, carried the work to conclusion.
Reviewing Mr. Vaughan’s work in other cities, mention should be made of St. Paul's Cathedral in Portland, Maine, dating from 1885; Christ Church in New Haven, Conn., of which a fine tower modeled after that of Magdalen’s College in Oxford, England, and completed in 1896, was a notable feature; the Chapel at Groton (Mass.) Boy's School; Searle Science Building and Hubbard Hall, Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Maine; St. John's Church, Beverly Farms, Mass., and Chapel at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire.