Hi:
I am in the middle of researching three other family surnames, so my Vaus facts are definitely not as clear as they could be. But, summing up:
My Vaus ancestor, William Vaus, was married in Itchingfield, Sussex (1748 - surname spelled Vous); Church Warden in Shipley (c1756); and died in 1796, I believe burial place unknown. His son, also William Vaus, was christened in Shipley (1761), lived in Horsham at one point and was buried in Shipley (1839).
William (1761) had sons named William, James, Joseph and Benjamin. Names were handed down through the generations and I believe the Vaus branches had at least two Benjamins.
We do not know where the "first" William Vaus was born. Family tales state the name was originally Vaux and that ancestors were French. I have seen our family records with Vous, Vaus and Vaux spellings. (Also, an occasional Vans, when the transcriber could not read the original writing. It's understandable, as the name is not common.)
Barnbarroch, I started researching before computers were commonly available. Unfortunately, except for a
very brief tree on one of the pay sites, all of my information has been recorded non-electronically. Not a wise move on my part, but that's what I have done. I believe I have seen Vaus family trees on one of the pay sites, if you have access to the common site (without naming it).
Shandvill, welcome to RootsChat. Thank you for sharing the information. My Vaus, Francis, Newman, Morgan, Adams, Cooper and Parker lines lived in Shipley (c1700 - c1850), so I have a huge interest in Shipley.
PS My Vaus ancestors were farmers, but in one of the wills, cattle was mentioned, so I'm not exactly sure what they did.