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OBITUARY CECIL EDWARD VAUGHAN OWEN, F.S.A., 1901-1981 With the death on 7 March 1981 of Cecil Edward Vaughan Owen of Glasgoed, Llanidloes, the Powysland Club lost one of its most loyal and popular members. He died suddenly and unexpectedly probably as he would have wished as he was on his way one Saturday morning for his regular daily visit to his sister Ettie in the local hospital before going on to Welshpool to welcome the speaker and take the chair at one of the meetings of the Club. Mr. Vaughan Owen was born on 13 March 1901, the fifth child and second son of Dr. and Mrs. John Vaughan Owen of Castle House, Llanidloes. He was educated at Llanidloes County School and at Oswestry School before going on to Edinburgh University where he began a medical course. This, however, did not appeal to him, and he abandoned it for a course in historical studies which became his life-long interest at Durham University. He did not take a degree, but embarked on a devoted teaching career. He taught first at Emscote Lawn School, Warwick. This school was evacuated during the war to Clochfaen, Llangurig, but he remained in charge at Warwick. After the war he moved to Akeley Wood School, Buckingham, and then to St. Piran's, Maidenhead, where he remained until his retirement. With his bent for historical studies and his deep attachment to his native Llanidloes and to the countryside around, he became the acknowledged authority, through his researches, on the history of the town itself and of Arwystli. He developed a special interest in vernacular architecture and in collaboration with his close friend, Mr. Peter Smith, now the Scretary of the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales, he contributed three articles on Montgomeryshire Houses to the Montgomeryshire Collections (Vols. 55, 58 and 59). Mr. Smith pays this tribute to him in his monumental book 'Houses of the Welsh Countryshire: 'Mr. C. E. V. Owen deserves my warmest thanks. He not only introduced me to Montgomeryshire, but helped with the survey of all the houses in that county illustrated in the volume. He also read through the text and suggested many amendments.' Mr. Vaughan Owen joined the Powysland Club in 1932, becoming a member of its Council in 1948; and he was the obvious and natural successor as its chairman when we lost his great friend, Dr. J. D. K. Lloyd. Sadly he was destined to hold the office for less than two years. He was one of three members of an Index Committee set up by the Club in 1958 to edit the draft Index of Vols. 1-54 (1868- 1956) of the Collections and to see it through to publication in 1962. This entailed much revision of the draft and the consequent devotion of a great deal of effort