User:RubyNoise/Harold Vaughan

Harold Eyvindur Vaughan (1923 - 1967) was a British craftsman, explorer and business founder. Born in England, to a Icelandic father and English mother, Vaughan was a sharp creative and business mind. Educated by his father in the properties of cellulose acetate and became curious about it's commercial potential. Post a short stint serving in WWII, Vaughan obtained a pilots license and spent many subsequent years, travelling across Europe, exploring heritage and the traditional craftsmanship of the European masters before returning to England to found his namesake company, the luxury brand Oxford Vaughan.

Biography
Vaughan was born in Oxfordshire, England the second of three siblings. His mother Florence (neé: Walters) was a seamstress. His father Edward Vaughan was born Edvard Njörður Vagnson, in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1883. Vagnson was a boatsman who reportedly jumped ship when it docked in Fleetwood, England in 1900 and adopted a British name. After suffering an injury during World War I, Vaughan's father took a job working in a factory in Spondon, Derbyshire founded by the Swiss brothers Henri and Camille Dreyfus making acetate for waterproofing and stifferning fabric that covered aeroplane wings for use in the war.

The Vaughan family made frequent trips to Switzerland, through friends and collegues of Vaughan senior. Subsequently Harold's elder sister married a Swiss man. The enthusiasm Vaughan senior had for chemistry lead him to want to pass his skills down to his sons but Harold had his sights set on different things. With a keen eye for business at a young age, Harold

Vaughan spent winters in remote village, Côte-aux-Fées that was often cut off from neighbouring places during icy winters and heavy snowfall. It was here that Vaughan was introduced to the family art of craftsmanship