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Vaux History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables

United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Vaux History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France
Scotland

The surname Vaux is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. As a general rule, the greater the distance between an individual and their homeland, the larger the territory they were named after. For example, a person who only moved to another parish would be known by the name of their original village, while people who migrated to a different country were often known by the name of a region or country from which they came. The name Vaux is a contraction of an Old French phrase meaning beautiful valley, and indicates that the original bearer lived in such a place at one time.

Early Origins of the Vaux family

The surname Vaux was first found in Burgundy (French: Bourgogne), an administrative and historical region of east-central France, where the family held a family seat from ancient times in the town of Volnay in the district of Beaune.

Jean de Vaux was registered in 1295 as a squire in the fief at Volnay and is thought to be the patriarch of the family. Large areas of land were exchanged at the hands of Jean de Vaux who sold much of the family lands at Antigny to the Duke of Burgundy.

Nicolas De Veau, son of Henri and Anne, travelled from France to Canada in the 17th century. After arriving in the province of Quebec he married Marie-Anne Tremblay, daughter of Jacques, at Ange-Gardien on 4th October 1769. 1

Early History of the Vaux family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Vaux research. Another 90 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1555, 1666, 1669 and 1813 are included under the topic Early Vaux History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Vaux Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Beliveau, Béliveau, Belivaux, Bélivaux, Belliveau, Bélliveau, Bellivaux, Béllivaux, Belleveau, Bellevaux, de Bellevau and many more.

Early Notables of the Vaux family

Notable amongst the family at this time was

the prominent de Bellevau family of Guyana and Claude Bellevaux, a major and a Knight of the Empire under Napoleon who received his title of nobility in 1813

Vaux migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Vaux Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Leonard Vaux, who arrived in Maryland in 1658 2
John Vaux who landed in America in 1679

Vaux Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Jean Pierre De Vaux, who landed in Louisiana in 1719 2

Vaux Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Thomas Vaux, who landed in New York in 1826 2
James Vaux, who arrived in New York in 1834 2
J. Vaux settled in San Francisco, California in 1850

Vaux migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Vaux Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Mr. James Vaux, aged 40 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Larch" departing from the port of Sligo, Ireland but died on Grosse Isle on 16th August 1847 3

Vaux migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Vaux Settlers in Australia in the 18th Century

Mr. Benjamin Vaux, (b. 1765), aged 32, English convict who was convicted in Warwick, Warwickshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Barwell" in September 1797, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1821 4

Vaux Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

William K. Vaux, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Asia" in 1839 5
James Oten Vaux, aged 27, who arrived in South Australia in 1855 aboard the ship "David Malcolm" 6

Vaux migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Vaux Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mrs. Vaux, British settler travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Ironsides" arriving in Port Chalmers, Otago, New Zealand on 18th June 1872 7
Child Vaux, British settler travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Ironsides" arriving in Port Chalmers, Otago, New Zealand on 18th June 1872 7

Contemporary Notables of the name Vaux (post 1700) +

Richard Vaux, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania 9th District, 1928 8
Richard Vaux (1816-1895), American Democratic Party politician, Mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1856-58; Defeated, 1854, 1858; Member of Pennsylvania State Legislature; U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania 3rd District, 1890-91 8
Harve E. Vaux, American politician, Mayor of Mt. Vernon, Washington, 1953 8
Bert Vaux (b. 1968), American professor of phonology and morphology at the University of Cambridge
Roberts Vaux (1786-1836), American lawyer, jurist, abolitionist, and philanthropist
Richard Vaux (1816-1895), American politician, Mayor of Philadelphia (1856–1858), Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania (1890-1891)
Calvert Vaux (1824-1895), British-born, American architect and landscape designer, best known as the co-designer of New York's Central Park
Samuel De Vaux, American politician, Member of New York State Assembly from Niagara County, 1830 9
Jacques-Alexandre-François Allix de Vaux, Count de Freudenthal, French Divisional General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 10
Father Roland Guérin de Vaux OP (1903-1971), French Dominican priest who led the Catholic team that worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls
... (Another 2 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 59)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 29th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/barwell
State Library of South Australia. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) ASIA 1839 from London with Captain Benjamin Freeman and 245 passengers, arrived Port Adelaide on 16-07-1839. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1839Asia-list.htm
South Australian Register Tuesday 1st May 1855. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) David Malcolm 1855. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/davidmalcolm1855.shtml
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 25) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 16) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 11) Jacques-Alexandre-François Vaux. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html