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William Vaughan (1752–1850) was an English West India merchant and author. ==Life== Born on 22 September 1752, he was the second son of Samuel Vaughan, a London merchant, by his wife Sarah, daughter of Benjamin Hallowell of Boston, Massachusetts. Benjamin Vaughan was his elder brother. He was educated at Newcome's School in Hackney and Warrington Academy. After leaving school Vaughan entered his father's business, and became prominent in commerce.〔 In April 1782 Vaughan travelled to Amsterdam to meet John Adams, as part of the negotiations to end the American War of Independence. In 1783 he was elected a director of the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation, and continued in it, as director, sub-governor, and governor, until 1829. During the Nore mutiny in 1797, Vaughan formed one of the committee of London merchants convened to meet at the Royal Exchange to deal with it. He independently drew up a short address to the seamen which was put in circulation by the naval authorities.〔 From 1793 to 1797 Vaughan published a series of pamphlets and tracts advocating the construction of docks for the Port of London. On 22 April 1796 he gave evidence before a parliamentary committee in favour of the bill for establishing wet docks.〔 Later that year he was on the committee planning docks, with Robert Milligan, George Hibbert and Beeston Long. Plans were laid for docks at Wapping; but the following year Milligan and Hibbert broke away to follow their own, more exclusive plans at the Isle of Dogs.〔(museumoflondon.org.uk, ''Robert Milligan statue''. )〕 Vaughan became a director of the London Dock Company in 1805.〔(museumoflondon.org.uk, ''William Vaughan, 70 Fenchurch Street''. )〕 Vaughan was a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Linnean Society, and of the Royal Astronomical Society. He was a member of the New England Corporation, and its governor till 1829. He was also a member of the Society for Bettering the Condition of the Poor, which was instrumental in 1815 in establishing the first savings bank in London, at Leicester Place in Westminster. He was a governor of Christ's Hospital and an honorary member of the Society of Civil Engineers.〔 He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1840.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterV.pdf )〕 Vaughan died in London on 5 May 1850, at his residence, 70 Fenchurch Street.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William Vaughan (merchant)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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