Walter Vaughan was born in Wales where he was privately educated. Although he was called to the English bar, he never practiced. In 1890 he came to Canada and entered the legal department of the Canadian Pacific Railway in Montreal. Vaughan remained there for seven years in the employ of Sir William Van Horne, whose biographer he became. From 1907 to 1918 Vaughan was Bursar of McGill University. After spending time in England and California, he returned to Montréal where he died in 1922. He is author of the book, The Life and Work of Sir William Van Horne (1920).