Vaughan was a merchant of London. About 1520 he made the acquaintance of
Thomas Cromwell, and in March 1523-4 he was in Cromwell's service. Through Cromwell's influence he was employed by
Cardinal Wolsey on the business of
Cardinal College. He was still mainly occupied with commerce, and was a member of the
Company of Merchant Adventurers of London. He frequently visited
Antwerp, and was entrusted with commissions on behalf of Cromwell and of Henry VIII, and about 1530 became royal agent or king's factor in the Netherlands. His principal duty was to negotiate loans with the
Fuggers, on commission. John Hutton, governor of the Merchant Adventurers' Company, in 1529 instigated charges of heresy against Vaughan before
William Warham, the
Archbishop of Canterbury and
Sir Thomas More. The influence of Cromwell protected Vaughan, but More continued to seek evidence against him, and succeeded in turning
George Constantine to use, and the matter was raised again in 1532. Meanwhile, in 1531 Henry VIII asked Vaughan to persuade
William Tyndale to retract his heretical opinions and return to England. Vaughan had various ineffectual interviews with Tyndale, and forwarded early copies of his books to the king. His efforts did not satisfy Henry VIII, who thought Vaughan too sympathetic towards Tyndale, though Cromwell said otherwise. Vaughan also interceded in
Hugh Latimer's favour when he was cited before convocation in January 1532, and reacted by writing a protest against Henry's persecution of reformers. He weathered this storm over his Protestant views. On Hutton's death about 1534 Vaughan succeeded him as governor of the Merchant Adventurers' Company. He also became, in succession to Sir John Hackett, president of the factory of English merchants at Antwerp, residing in what was called 'the English House'. On 10 April 1534 he was appointed a clerk in chancery, an office which did not prevent his residence at Antwerp, and was on 6 August 1534 appointed to a salaried royal secretarial position. In 1538 he was sent with
Thomas Wriothesley and
Sir Edward Carne to negotiate respecting the intended marriage of Henry VIII with the
Duchess-consort of Milan. About the same time he became governor of the merchant adventurers of
Bergen, and in 1541 he was sent with Carne to the regent of Flanders to procure the repeal of the restrictions on English commerce. In 1544 he was granted the clerkship of dispensations, and about the same time the priory of
St. Mary Spital,
Shoreditch. He retained his post as agent in the Netherlands until September 1546, when he returned to England and occupied himself with his business as under-treasurer of the mint. On 26 October 1547 he was returned to parliament for Lancaster. ==Family==