He was an authority on the laws of bankruptcy, and wrote a book that remained the standard English work on the subject for many years.

Among his brothers was Arthur, who became a clergyman and was the father of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

In 1870 he published The Law and Practice of Bankruptcy, a work that was for many years the standard English authority on the subject.

[3] Vaughan Williams' conduct in the Court of Appeal was said to have driven a fellow Lord Justice, Sir Robert Romer, into retirement.

In 1865 he married Laura Susannah, daughter of Edmund Lomax of Surrey after which he added her surname to his own.