Who married Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery?

Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery KB, PC (c. 1600 – 1686^[a]), styled The Honourable from 1621 to 1628 and then Lord Vaughan until 1634, was a Welsh soldier, peer and politician.

Born the son of a Welsh nobleman with an Irish peerage, Vaughan initially entered the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for the Welsh constituency of Carmarthenshire in 1624. He held the seat until 1629, when King Charles I decided to rule without parliament until 1640. Knighted in 1626, he appears to have had little interest in politics, and after inheriting the estates and titles of his father in 1634, he retired to the life of a country gentleman in South Wales. The outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642 disturbed his peace, and after being courted by both King and Parliament, he declared as a Royalist. He raised troops for the king and took control of the Southern Welsh counties on behalf of the Crown, for which he was rewarded with titles and responsibilities.

Carbery's successes were short-lived however. Never a natural soldier, within a year he was fighting Parliamentarian risings in his counties, and shortly after resigned his command. He saw out the wars in retirement, narrowly escaping a heavy fine from Parliament, and refusing to become involved in any further escapades. Restored to favour after the Restoration in 1660, Carbery received a number of important local positions. He became a literary patron later in his career, hosting the Anglican theologian Jeremy Taylor at his seat, Golden Grove (Gelli Aur), and the poet Samuel Butler, during his time as constable of Ludlow Castle. A scandal involving his treatment of servants forced him to relinquish many of his administrative posts, and he spent his last years in quiet retirement.

Frances Vaughan, Countess of Carbery (née Altham; c. 1621 – 9 October 1650) was the second wife of Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery. Her second son, John, became the 3rd Earl following his father's death in 1686.

Frances was one of the two daughters of Sir James Altham of Oxhey (son of the judge Sir James Altham) and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir Richard Sutton. Her sister Elizabeth married Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey. As co-heiresses, the Altham sisters had a considerable inheritance.

Frances and her husband had three sons, including the 3rd Earl. The other two were Francis, who became MP for Carmarthen in 1661 and died in 1667, some years before his father. Their third son, Altham (c.1642-1682), succeeded his father and brothers as MP for Carmarthen in 1679.

The Anglican writer Jeremy Taylor spent some time with the Earl and Countess at their Carmarthenshire residence, Gelli Aur (Golden Grove). Taylor dedicated the third volume of his work The Great Exemplar (1649) to Frances, and the sermon he gave at her funeral was published. Taylor said of the late countess that "she did not love her fortune for making her noble; but thought it would be a dishonour to her if she did not continue a nobleness and excellency of virtue..."

Alice Vaughan, Countess of Carbery (née Lady Alice Egerton; 1619-1689) was an English musician and performer who acted in two notable masques: Aurelian Townshend's Tempe Restored (1632), and John Milton's Maske Performed at Ludlow Castle (1634).

Lady Alice was the youngest of eleven daughters born to John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater and Lady Frances Stanley. She starred in the singing role of The Lady in Milton's Maske when it was performed at Ludlow Castle in 1634, in honor of her father's appointment as Lord President of Wales. Her younger brothers, John and Thomas, appeared as The Lady's Brothers. Henry Lawes, who wrote the music for the Maske, was Alice Egerton's music teacher. She was participating in a family tradition: her grandmother, Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby, a well-known patron of the arts, had herself appeared in Ben Jonson's The Masque of Queens in 1609 and was the honoree of Milton's masque Arcades.

Lady Alice married Richard Vaughan, 2nd Earl of Carbery in 1652, when she was aged about 33 and he was approximately twenty years older; they had no children. The earl succeeded Alice's father as Lord President of Wales following the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, but he was later removed from the post.