Genealogy Chat

Question about French history...posting in a moment, please.

Family lore states my Vaus(Vaux) line fled France during the French Revolution.

However, my ancestor was living in England by 1748: he was married in Sussex in 1748 and a church warden in the 1750's.

A Vaus ancestor left England for Canada in 1857 and I am almost certain contact was severed with the English relatives by 1875.

I met a distant English Vaus cousin a couple of years ago. His family has the same 'French Revolution' tale, even though our families have not communicated since the 1800's.

Any suggestions why our families think our ancestors left France, when the revolution occurred at least 40 years after our ancestors were in England? (Sorry, not very good with history.)

Perhaps there was a previous local revolution in France prior to the main one. Could have been the first stirrings of the people, was quelled, but the people continued to be dissatisfied and then it really burst forth in 1789.

Huia, I tried googling several options and didn't get too far. I was thinking of a smaller French revolt, but didn't think of a 'local' one. I shall try googing more. Thank you for your suggestion; I wouldn't have thought of it.

Lisa Could they have been Huguenots? Chris

Could they have been Huguenots? They were persecuted in France as late as the 1760's.

Snap!!

Snap Pete :)

There is a website called Wikipedia and i look this up for you. Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The second Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) of 1748 ended the War of the Austrian Succession. A congress assembled at the Imperial Free City of Aachen, in the west of the Holy Roman Empire, on April 24, 1748. The resulting treaty was signed on October 18, 1748. France and Britain mostly negotiated the treaty, and the other powers involved in the war followed their lead. The terms of the treaty were: A general restitution of conquests. The French returned the Austrian Netherlands and the Dutch barrier towns to their owners, and restored Madras in India to the British. The British, on their part, returned the fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island in Canada. Empress Maria Theresa had to cede the duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla in northern Italy to her enemy, Duke Philip of Parma from Spain, and various territories in western Lombardy to her ally, the King of Sardinia. The Duchy of Modena and the Republic of Genoa were restored. The Asiento contract and the right to send an annual vessel to the Spanish colonies, both guaranteed to Great Britain by the March 16, 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, were confirmed and renewed. In essence, the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and the War of Austrian Succession concluded status quo ante bellum. In the commercial struggle between Britain and France in the West Indies, Africa, and India, nothing was settled; the treaty was thus no basis for a lasting peace. In France, there was a general resentment at what was seen as a foolish throwing away of advantages (particularly in the Austrian Netherlands, which had largely been conquered by the brilliant strategy of Marshal Saxe), and it came to be popular in Paris to use the phrase 'bête comme la paix' ('stupid as the peace'). By the same token, British colonists in New England resented the return of Louisbourg to the French after they had captured the stronghold in a 46 day siege. This resentment was an early seed of the later American Revolution [citation needed]. Italy, however, gained stability for the first time in the 18th century. The new territorial settlement and the accession of the pacific Ferdinand VI of Spain allowed the Aachen settlement to last until the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1792. Spain later raised objections to the Asiento clauses, and the Treaty of Madrid, signed on October 5, 1750, stipulated that Great Britain surrendered her claims under those clauses in return for a sum of £100,000.

Hi Chris and Pete: I have no idea. All I knew about the family was Guillaume Vaux de Mon(t)fort was the ancestor who fled/left France, settled in England long enough to change his name to William Vaus Mumford and then immediately relocated to Canada. The name William Vaus Mumford was handed down since the revolution. Most of the above is true - just not the way it was told. (A Vaus married a Mumford. Except for one female ancestor, there was a William Vaus/William Vaus Mumford in my family for at least 7 generations.) (Oh, the part about the brief stay in England - they were there from c1748 through 1857.)

Thank you very much, Irene - reading your post now. PS Thank you both, Chris and Pete. I appreciate your suggestions as well. ------------------ Chris, Pete, Irene and Huia - will check into Huguenots and unrest. Thank you for your help; it is very appreciated.

If you google huguenot vaux some interesting sites appear.

Ohhh, MM, thank you! Looks like I'll be doing a lot of reading tonight. Can't wait to get started with all of the options!

You're welcome ... :-)

I have a Vaux line in my tree too - in Somerset, the earliest being abt 1653. I dont know where he was born but he married in Somerset. A lot of people fled Europe for persecution reasons, but I also believe that armies from France, Spain and Holland also came over here at various times. My history sucks too but didnt some come over here to help fight in our Civil Wars? And talking of Civil Wars - they resulted in many men (and families) leaving their villages and towns, to fight and then to escape likely hanging.

Hi Susan. I've always shunned away from reading about wars - they don't interest me in the least (guess I was dragged to too many war films when I was growing up). Guess it's high time I start learning about them, eh? Thank you for your information. ------------------- Susan, have you searched your Vaux line to any extent? I've only been in touch with five Vaux/Vaus descendants and four of us are related (the fifth is from the London area). I would be delighted to share my information, if you like?

I have just checked your surname at this site www(.)surnamedb(.)com/surname(.)aspx?name=Vaux
It seems Vaux is English since the Norman conquests, but was also brought to England by Huguenots at a later date.
My molyneux from Lancashire is now considered English. I have discovered my Vanners from my father's side are Huguenot, but there are also Vanners here from Norman times, it's just a matter of sorting out who is from where.
Don't forget to remove brackets.

I'd imagine they were Huguenots. Something like 100,000 left France after the Revocation of Edict of Nantes. Mine, like the majority went first to Netherlands, than when William of Orange died in 1705 (I think!) they, and many others crossed the water again for London, and the extra protection the channel afforded from France. This really was a period of 'revolution' religious revolution, and a traumatic enough series of events, with many years of battles, war and massacres, to cause upheavel of huge numbers of people from their homelands. I can well understand that being remembered as a 'revolution'. As you say your dates just don't fit with the 1789 Revolution and aftermath at all.

Hi Amanda. I not only checked the site for Vaux, I also looked up most of my other surnames. Very interesting site, thank you!

Richard, I am now googling the Edict of Nantes - very interesting! Thank you very much!

[Haven't figured out how to change the previously posted "user name" back to Lisa J in California.]

To those following this thread: I believe there might be more to this story than I previously noticed.

William Vaux/s, born c1720 and married in 1748/49 in Sussex, died in 1796 and left a will. He was a farmer (someone whom I would think wouldn't necessarily have much), yet he left three pieces of property to his four children; left money to his wife and four children, as well as the remainder of his business ("corn cattle husbandry").
He also apparently donated a bell to the church. (I've not seen the bell, but a distant cousin was allowed to see it.)
He also contributed to church renovations at least once.
He was a church warden for at least one year and I have several copies of his signature - he had beautiful penmanship. His children could also write their names and had nice penmanship as well.

I found this last night: "Richard Vaux (1749-90) emigrated from Sussex, England, to Philadelphia, PA, in early youth. He was the descendant of Huguenot refugees who came to England from France in the late 17th century." While I cannot see ANY connection to my family, this is more evidence of your suggested theories.