| George Yeardley resided in the Southern Colonies in North America before 1776. Join: US Southern Colonies Project Discuss: southern_colonies |
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The Jamestowne Society gives this succinct summary:[1]
Yeardley, Sir George - baptized 28 July 1588 Surrey County, England, buried 13 November 1627 Jamestowne Island (Landowner); 1616-27 (Councillor); 1616, 1625 (Deputy Governor); 1618, 1626 (Governor); (Muster of 1624/5).
A George Yeardley was baptized on 28 July 1588 at St. Saviour's, Southwark, Surrey, England, a son of Ralph Yeardley a London merchant-tailor, and Rhoda Marston.[2] His parents were married on 15 November 1575 at St Saviour's.
Tyler reports that George was the son of Ralph Yardley, citizen and merchant tailor of Bionshaw Lane, London, who married (1) Agnes Abbot and (2) Rhoda Unknown. He was one of four brothers: Ralph, George (himself), John, and Thomas, and had a sister Anne, who married Edward Irby.
George left London and chose the life of a soldier. He was a member of a company of English foot-soldiers who went to fight the Spanish in the Netherlands. Later he would be Captain of the personal bodyguard for Sir Thomas Gates while the latter was the Governor of Virginia Colony.[2]
Yeardley's first trip to Virginia began on June 1, 1609, when he set sail with Gates aboard the Sea Venture, the flag ship for the perilous Third Supply to Jamestown.[3] They were shipwrecked at Bermuda for ten months while two small ships were built. On May 23, 1610, the Deliverance and the pinnace Patience, finally arrived at Jamestown.[2]
The complex story of the first 7 years of the re-launched colony is told elsewhere; suffice it to say that in 1616 Yeardley became Deputy Governor when Sir Thomas Dale returned to England at the end of his term.
Yeardley was replaced as Deputy Governor by Samuel Argall in 1617. Lord Delaware was still the Governor of the colony, although he had returned to England with malaria in 1611. In 1618, reports of a deteriorating situation prompted Delaware to sail for Virginia, but he died at sea.
A new Governor was needed who would take personal charge in the colony, and the choice fell on Yeardley. It's not known whether he returned to London at that point, or whether he was in London already, but he is said to have spent £3000 fittiing himself out for the role before his formal appointment on 18th November 1618. He was knighted by the King on the 24th.
Waters writes:[4]
On the twenty-eighth of November Chamberlain writes that Captain Yeardley, "a mean fellow," goes Governor to Virginia, two or three ships being ready. To grace him the more the King knighted him this week at Newmarket, which hath set him up so high, that he flaunts it up and down the streets in extraordinary bravery, with fourteen or fifteen fair liveries after him,"
In fact Yeardley didn't set sail for Virginia until January 1619, and was then delayed by bad weather and didn't arrive at Jamestown until April 18th.[5] Yeardley took with him a set of instructions from the Company Treasurer, Sir Thomas Smith, to reform the colony.[6] During Yeardley's term of office, land was granted to Ancient Planters and to servants whose time was served, the headright system was established, and the first Assembly was convened. At its first meeting, 30th July to 4th August 1619, it consisted initially of the Governor, the Council members, and 2 Burgesses elected by each of the 11 "boroughs" and "plantations" which then existed. The meetings were held in the church, to which the members went in procession, Yeardley being accompanied by a guard of liveried halberdiers. Their first action after prayers was to exclude two of the Burgesses on a technicality.[7]
Yeardley resigned his Governorship on his 3rd anniversary, probably because of increasing political warfare within the Company. He was succeeded by Sir Francis Wyatt. But he remained in the colony, having by that time amassed a substantial collection of properties by grant and purchase. In the 1623/4 Company census and the 1624/5 Muster, he is listed at James City with his family and many servants.
Following the ousting of the Company by the Crown, Yeardley was reappointed in some gubernatorial capacity in 1624 or 1625.[8] He was reappointed as Governor by the King on 17th May 1626 (Tyler), and continued in office until his death.
George married Temperance Flowerdew,[9] and they had 3 children:
Yeardley, "likely purchased some of the first Africans to arrive in 1619, making him one of the first slaveholders in Virginia."[11][12]
"On February 16, 1624, the colony muster recorded Yeardley living in Jamestown with his wife, three children, eight white servants, and two unnamed black women,[13] with other servants and enslaved Africans likely laboring at Yeardley’s other properties. Unlike with the white servants, the names and origins of the black women went unnoted, suggesting they were enslaved and making Yeardley one of the first slaveholders in Virginia. They may have come from one of the two ships that arrived in 1619.[14] By the next year, when another muster was held on January 25, 1625, Yeardley’s holdings had increased substantially. He now claimed thirty-nine laborers, including twenty-four in Jamestown, eight of whom were black."[15][11]
The 1624/5 JAMESTOWN MUSTER was a house-to-house survey that contained information about the location of households in Virginia, the individuals in each household and the ties that connected the colony's early residents to one another. The census-takers also made note of each household's provisions, buildings, boats, arms and ammunition, and livestock. The names of individuals who died during 1624 is part of the muster.
Servants ...
Muster at James Citty (16 Feb 1624):[13]
The Muster of Sir George Yeardley, kt. (20 Jan / 07 Feb 1625):[15][19]
Muster at Hog Island:[21]
George was buried,[12] on 13 November 1627 at Jamestown, (later James City County), Colony of Virginia.[22] The next day, Francis West was elected to act as Governor pending a new royal appointment, and the Privy Council was duly notified on 20th December 1627.[4]
He left a will written on 12 October 1627 (with a codicil added on the 29th).
The will provided that George's property was to be sold and the proceeds divided: 1/3 each for his wife and his eldest son Argall, and 1/6 each for the other two children. We're told it was proved on 14 February 1627/8, and administration was granted to George's brother, Ralph Yeardley, on 14 March 1627/8, in the absence of his wife overseas.[4]
At least half a dozen other George Yardleys were born in England in the relevant timeframe, maybe a dozen. The reasons why this particular George is now selected as the immigrant have not been located. There seems to be no statement of his age in Colonial records; an estimate can be made from his career, but a birthdate of 1588 is at the limit of the range, as it would make him barely 21, if that, when he sailed with the Gates expedition, and slightly younger when he invested in the Company, but he is said to have had a previous career.[23]
Connections to Super Bowl halftime show performers: George is 21 degrees from Prince Nelson, 20 degrees from Dan Aykroyd, 18 degrees from Garth Brooks, 27 degrees from Chubby Checker, 21 degrees from Ella Fitzgerald, 17 degrees from Dusty Hill, 27 degrees from Whitney Houston, 19 degrees from Mick Jagger, 20 degrees from Paul McCartney, 17 degrees from Tom Petty, 18 degrees from Chris Stapleton and 20 degrees from Shania Twain on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
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Categories: Jamestown Original Burial Ground, Jamestown, Virginia | Governor's Council, Virginia Colony | USBH Heritage Exchange, Needs Slave Profiles | USBH Heritage Exchange, Needs Slaves Identified | St Saviour's Church, Southwark, Surrey | Ancient Planters of Virginia | Deliverance, sailed 1610 | Jamestown, Virginia Colony | Colonial Governors of Virginia | Virginia, Slave Owners | James City County, Virginia, Slave Owners | Jamestown Colonists | Jamestowne Society Qualifying Ancestors
US Southern Colonies Project - this profile might already be on the spreadsheet, as it had previously been a project-managed profile.
Cheers, Liz
By subscription image 174 https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/1624/31280_195129-00199?pid=2121123
The origins section suggests that George went on to marry others and was not the Virginia governor nor husband of Temperance.
Just saw a repeat of the Smithsonian program (of 2019) the excavation, retrieval and analysis of bones. No indication that he married other than Temperance - her body believed to be that buried near / beside him. The experts claim that his teeth showed proof of his having been a tailor earlier in life (expert noted damage to the teeth / roots from thread as was part of the technique used in tailoring), and bone analysis indicated that he ate a lot of corn, ...that he was not an aristocrat by birth.
2. If the excavated bones were George Yeardley, then their conclusion that he was not an aristocrat by birth would eliminate the baptised boy being the Virginia man.... right?
https://www.history.com/news/jamestown-colony-slavery-george-yeardley-skeleton?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1532461441
When filling out relatives the program didn't list already posted similar names so I didn't catch the posted Yeardley-6..or the other siblings..can we merge my profile for Yeardley -37.so there is only one?..Thank you