He was the second son of Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery and his second wife Frances Altham (c1621 – 9 October 1650), daughter of Sir John Altham of Oxhey, Watford, Hertfordshire. He inherited his title and the Carmarthenshire estate (Golden Grove) in 1686 on the death of his father.
He was invested as a Knight, Order of the Bath (KB) in April 1661. He was Governor of Jamaica from 1674 to 1678. His deputy was the celebrated privateer Sir Henry Morgan.
He had a reputation for debauchery: Samuel Pepys called him "the lewdest fellow of the age".
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, whose impeachment Vaughan strongly supported, called him a man who was "as ugly in face as in fame". As Governor of Jamaica he became notorious for corruption, and was even accused of selling his servants as slaves.
He was President of the Royal Society between 1686–1689, having been elected a Fellow in 1685. He was Colonel of the Regiment of Foot from 1673 to 1674 and Lord of the Admiralty from 1689 to 1690.
On his death his titles became extinct.
Vaughan married twice, first to Mary Brown, daughter of George Brown of Green Castle but they had no children. They had two children;
George Vaughan (b 6 October 1683, bur 7 May 1685) died aged 2. Anne Vaughan (d 20 September 1751) who in 1713 married Charles Paulet, 3rd Duke of Bolton.
Royal Society; Cavalier Parliament]
He was Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for Carmarthen between 1661 and 1679 and again for Carmarthenshire between 1679 and 1689.
