Hanmer, Caroline, 1868-1903

: Herbert Alfred Vaughan was born in Gloucester on the 15th April 1832, the eldest son of Colonel John Vaughan and Eliza Vaughan, née Rolls. The Vaughans were a large landed family of English Roman Catholic recusant stock, whose estate was situated at Courtfield, near the English-Welsh border. Vaughan was educated at the Jesuit colleges of Stoneyhurst (1841-1846), and Brugelette, Belgium (1846-1848), and thence at the Benedictine Downside Abbey (1849-1951). Rather than following the his father's path as a country gentlemen, he decided to enter the priesthood, setting an example for his siblings (five of his seven brothers also became priests, and all of his five sisters became nuns). In 1852, therefore, Vaughan commenced theological studies in Rome, leading to his ordination on 28th October 1854, at Lucca in Italy, at the age of only 22. His first post after ordination was that of Vice-Rector at the seminary of St Edmund's, Ware, in Hertfordshire, the main seminary of the South of England.

Soon after, however, he determined to devote himself to missionary work. Not strong enough himself for the vigours of overseas work, he aimed to achieve this via the establishment of a missionary training college; he was encouraged in his plans by his friend Father (later Cardinal) Henry Edward Manning (1808-1892) and by Cardinal Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman (1802-1865).

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