William Yardley
Encyclopedia
William Yardley was an early settler of Bucks County, Pennsylvania
and is the namesake
of the borough
of Yardley, Pennsylvania
. As a persecuted Quaker minister, Yardley and his wife, Jane (nee
Janney) moved from Ransclough, England near Leeke in the County of Stafford to Bucks County when Yardley was 50. The family arrived on September 28, 1682, on the ship Friend's Adventure with their children, Thomas, Enoch, and William, and a servant. Yardley subsequently purchased 500 acres (2 km²) of land in Lower Makefield Township
in Bucks County from William Penn
, who had received the land from Charles II of England
to settle a debt owed Penn's father. Yardley named his tract "Prospect Farm". He served as a Justice of the Peace for Bucks County and became a member of the Provincial Council
.
After Yardley died in a smallpox epidemic in 1693, his nephew, Thomas Yardley, arrived from England in 1694 to manage the holdings. Through marriage, nephew Thomas added land to Yardley's former holdings and had ten children. As a result, William Yardley became the ancestor of all that bear the Yardley name in Bucks County and many in other parts of the United States.
. The Yardleys are supposed to have arrived England with William the Conqueror in or after 1066, but the earliest record of a Yardley in England was a William Yardley's appearance as a witness at the placing of King John's seal on the Magna Carta
in 1215. The name Yardley next appears 185 years later, giving documented support to the claim that William Yardley's ancestors were in England in 1400.
Yardley was raised as an agriculturist
, but associated with the mystic religious community in Renaissance England called the Family of Love
. When Yardley was 15, English Dissenter George Fox
began preaching an unusual and uncompromising
approach to English Puritan
ism. This led to the founding of the Religious Society of Friends
, also called the Quakers, a year later in 1648. In 1656, at age 23, Yardley began preaching on behalf of the Quakers. Two years later, he became a Quaker
minister. Over the next twenty-five years, Yardley preached throughout England and was imprisoned several times along with many other Quakers, including William Penn. In one harsh imprisonment, Yardley's only resting place for three months was the bare, unheated floor of his cell.
In March 1681, Penn founded the Province of Pennsylvania
as a primary refuge for persecuted English Quakers. Yardley was an uncle of one of Penn's most trusted friends and counselors, Phineas Pemberton. With plans to leave England, Yardley made an agreement with Penn to buy 500 acres (2 km²) for ten pounds (about nineteen U.S. dollars). At age 50 in 1682, Yardley and wife Jane (nee
Janney), sons Enoch, William and Thomas, and servant Andrew Heath sailed to the America
on the ship Friend's Adventure. On the ship, Yardley brought with him 2 bundles, 2 tubs, 3 chests, 1 pack, 2 boxes qty. 2 cwt. wrought iron, 1/2 cwt. pewter, 30 lbs, woolen cloth, 100 ells English linen, 40 lbs. new shoes, 2 cwt. nails; 1/2 chest window glass, 1/2 cwt. haberdashery wares.
On arriving in America, Yardley became the first person named "Yardley" to immigrate into America. The family eventually made their way to Falls, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
, arriving there on September 28, 1682. Within the next few days, Yardley located 500 acres (2 km²) on the west bank of the Delaware River
covering what is now Yardley, Pennsylvania
. Penn gave Yardley a warranty deed
on October 6, 1682 and the land officially became Yardley's about five years later on January 23, 1687 through a land patent
.
By the end of 1682, Yardley built his farmhouse on what is now called Yardley Dolington Road, about a mile from Yardley, Pennsylvania. He called his farmhouse and adjoining 500 acres (2 km²) of land "Prospect Farm
." In 1683, Yardley presided over the marriage of Richard Hough
, one of the first marriages among the English settlers. In addition, Yardley almost immediately took a prominent part in the affairs of the Province of Pennsylvania.
Over the next ten years, Yardley signed one of the frames of Pennsylvania's Great Charter
, represented Bucks County in the first Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, and was a member of the Executive Council of the Province of Pennsylvania. Yardley died on May 6, 1693 at the age of 61 as a result of a smallpox epidemic. Thomas Janney (1633–1696), Yardley's brother-in-law
, wrote of him, about the time of his death: "He was a man of sound mind and good understanding."
of the Delaware River. Yardley's ferry soon after became an important point, and, later in the 18th century, when the three great roads leading to Philadelphia, via the Falls
, Four Lanes end (now Langhorne
), and Newtown
terminated there, the ferry became a thoroughfare of travel and traffic for a large section of East Jersey
.
Yardley's wife Jane and their three sons, Enoch, William and Thomas, died in 1702–1703 due to the a smallpox epidemic. As a result, Yardley's property in America reverted to his heirs in England, namely Yardley's brother Thomas and nephews, Thomas and Samuel, sons of Thomas. In 1694, Thomas, the younger son of Thomas (brother) and nephew
to Yardley, came over with power of attorney to settle the estate. "Prospect Farm" became his property by purchase, and he settled in Lower Makefield Township, Pennsylvania
, spending his life in Pennsylvania, 12 month, 1706. Through his marriage to the daughter of William Biles
, a prominent Provincial Judge, Assemblyman and Councilman, and the siring of ten children, nephew Thomas combined the properties of his uncle, William Yardley, and father-in-law
, William Biles
, such that William Yardley became the ancestor of all that bear the Yardley name in Bucks County and many in other parts of the United States.
Bucks County, Pennsylvania
- Industry and commerce :The boroughs of Bristol and Morrisville were prominent industrial centers along the Northeast Corridor during World War II. Suburban development accelerated in Lower Bucks in the 1950s with the opening of Levittown, Pennsylvania, the second such "Levittown" designed by...
and is the namesake
Namesake
Namesake is a term used to characterize a person, place, thing, quality, action, state, or idea that has the same, or a similar, name to another....
of the borough
Borough (Pennsylvania)
In the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a borough is a self-governing municipal entity that is usually smaller than a city. There are 958 boroughs in Pennsylvania. All municipalities in Pennsylvania are classified as either cities, boroughs, or townships...
of Yardley, Pennsylvania
Yardley, Pennsylvania
Yardley is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The small community of Yardley is bordered by the Delaware River and Ewing, New Jersey on the east, and by Lower Makefield Township on the north, west, and south...
. As a persecuted Quaker minister, Yardley and his wife, Jane (nee
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Janney) moved from Ransclough, England near Leeke in the County of Stafford to Bucks County when Yardley was 50. The family arrived on September 28, 1682, on the ship Friend's Adventure with their children, Thomas, Enoch, and William, and a servant. Yardley subsequently purchased 500 acres (2 km²) of land in Lower Makefield Township
Lower Makefield Township, Pennsylvania
Lower Makefield Township is a township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA and usually referred to as "Yardley" due to the prominence of Yardley Borough in that area...
in Bucks County from William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
, who had received the land from Charles II of England
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
to settle a debt owed Penn's father. Yardley named his tract "Prospect Farm". He served as a Justice of the Peace for Bucks County and became a member of the Provincial Council
Pennsylvania Provincial Council
The Pennsylvania Provincial Council helped govern the Province of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1776.-References:*----...
.
After Yardley died in a smallpox epidemic in 1693, his nephew, Thomas Yardley, arrived from England in 1694 to manage the holdings. Through marriage, nephew Thomas added land to Yardley's former holdings and had ten children. As a result, William Yardley became the ancestor of all that bear the Yardley name in Bucks County and many in other parts of the United States.
History
William Yardley was born in 1632 in Ransclough, England, located in StaffordshireStaffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
. The Yardleys are supposed to have arrived England with William the Conqueror in or after 1066, but the earliest record of a Yardley in England was a William Yardley's appearance as a witness at the placing of King John's seal on the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
in 1215. The name Yardley next appears 185 years later, giving documented support to the claim that William Yardley's ancestors were in England in 1400.
Yardley was raised as an agriculturist
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, but associated with the mystic religious community in Renaissance England called the Family of Love
Familist
The Family of Love or Familists was a mystic religious sect known as the Familia Caritatis , founded by Henry Nicholis, also known as Niclaes....
. When Yardley was 15, English Dissenter George Fox
George Fox
George Fox was an English Dissenter and a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends.The son of a Leicestershire weaver, Fox lived in a time of great social upheaval and war...
began preaching an unusual and uncompromising
Nonconformism
Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
approach to English Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
ism. This led to the founding of the Religious Society of Friends
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
, also called the Quakers, a year later in 1648. In 1656, at age 23, Yardley began preaching on behalf of the Quakers. Two years later, he became a Quaker
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
minister. Over the next twenty-five years, Yardley preached throughout England and was imprisoned several times along with many other Quakers, including William Penn. In one harsh imprisonment, Yardley's only resting place for three months was the bare, unheated floor of his cell.
In March 1681, Penn founded the Province of Pennsylvania
Province of Pennsylvania
The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as Pennsylvania Colony, was founded in British America by William Penn on March 4, 1681 as dictated in a royal charter granted by King Charles II...
as a primary refuge for persecuted English Quakers. Yardley was an uncle of one of Penn's most trusted friends and counselors, Phineas Pemberton. With plans to leave England, Yardley made an agreement with Penn to buy 500 acres (2 km²) for ten pounds (about nineteen U.S. dollars). At age 50 in 1682, Yardley and wife Jane (nee
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Janney), sons Enoch, William and Thomas, and servant Andrew Heath sailed to the America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on the ship Friend's Adventure. On the ship, Yardley brought with him 2 bundles, 2 tubs, 3 chests, 1 pack, 2 boxes qty. 2 cwt. wrought iron, 1/2 cwt. pewter, 30 lbs, woolen cloth, 100 ells English linen, 40 lbs. new shoes, 2 cwt. nails; 1/2 chest window glass, 1/2 cwt. haberdashery wares.
On arriving in America, Yardley became the first person named "Yardley" to immigrate into America. The family eventually made their way to Falls, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Falls Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Falls Township is a township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 34,300 at the 2010 census. Portions of Fairless Hills and Levittown, Pennsylvania, are located in the township...
, arriving there on September 28, 1682. Within the next few days, Yardley located 500 acres (2 km²) on the west bank of the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
covering what is now Yardley, Pennsylvania
Yardley, Pennsylvania
Yardley is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The small community of Yardley is bordered by the Delaware River and Ewing, New Jersey on the east, and by Lower Makefield Township on the north, west, and south...
. Penn gave Yardley a warranty deed
Warranty deed
A general warranty deed is a type of deed where the grantor guarantees that he or she holds clear title to a piece of real estate and has a right to sell it to the grantee . The guarantee is not limited to the time the grantor owned the property—it extends back to the property's origins. A General...
on October 6, 1682 and the land officially became Yardley's about five years later on January 23, 1687 through a land patent
Land patent
A land patent is a land grant made patent by the sovereign lord over the land in question. To make a such a grant “patent”, such a sovereign lord must document the land grant, securely sign and seal the document and openly publish the same to the public for all to see...
.
By the end of 1682, Yardley built his farmhouse on what is now called Yardley Dolington Road, about a mile from Yardley, Pennsylvania. He called his farmhouse and adjoining 500 acres (2 km²) of land "Prospect Farm
Prospect Farm
Prospect Farm was built by steamboat captain J. C. Jenkins on a hill overlooking Petersburg, Kentucky. Jenkins was born in Orange County, Virginia and moved to Boone County in 1832...
." In 1683, Yardley presided over the marriage of Richard Hough
Richard Hough
Richard Alexander Hough was a British author and historian specializing in maritime history.-Personal life:Hough married the author Charlotte Woodyadd, who he had met when they were pupils at Frensham Heights School, and they had five children including the author Deborah Moggach.-Literary...
, one of the first marriages among the English settlers. In addition, Yardley almost immediately took a prominent part in the affairs of the Province of Pennsylvania.
Over the next ten years, Yardley signed one of the frames of Pennsylvania's Great Charter
Frame of Government of Pennsylvania
The Frame of Government of Pennsylvania was a constitution for the Province of Pennsylvania, a proprietary colony granted to William Penn by Charles II of England. In 1682 Penn, while still in England, drafted the first version of the Frame of Government to supplement the colony's royal charter...
, represented Bucks County in the first Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, and was a member of the Executive Council of the Province of Pennsylvania. Yardley died on May 6, 1693 at the age of 61 as a result of a smallpox epidemic. Thomas Janney (1633–1696), Yardley's brother-in-law
Brother-in-law
A brother-in-law is the brother of one's spouse, the husband of one's sibling, or the husband of one's spouse's sibling.-See also:*Affinity *Sister-in-law*Brothers in Law , a 1955 British comedy novel...
, wrote of him, about the time of his death: "He was a man of sound mind and good understanding."
After death
The tract of William Yardley covered the site of Yardley, and, after his death, his son Thomas established a ferry there, called "Yardley's ferry," which the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly confirmed to him in 1722. The ferry sometimes was called Howell's ferry since that was the name of the ferry kept on the New Jersey sideNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
of the Delaware River. Yardley's ferry soon after became an important point, and, later in the 18th century, when the three great roads leading to Philadelphia, via the Falls
Falls Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Falls Township is a township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 34,300 at the 2010 census. Portions of Fairless Hills and Levittown, Pennsylvania, are located in the township...
, Four Lanes end (now Langhorne
Langhorne, Pennsylvania
Langhorne is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,622 at the 2010 census.The name "Langhorne" is used broadly to describe the majority of surrounding Middletown Township, which for the most part uses Langhorne's zip code of 19047...
), and Newtown
Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Newtown is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,248 at the 2010 census. It is located just west of the Trenton, New Jersey metropolitan area, and is part of the larger Philadelphia metropolitan area. It is entirely surrounded by Newtown Township, from which...
terminated there, the ferry became a thoroughfare of travel and traffic for a large section of East Jersey
East Jersey
The Province of East Jersey and the Province of West Jersey were two distinct, separately governed parts of the Province of New Jersey that existed as separate provinces for 28 years, between 1674 and 1702. East Jersey's capital was located at Perth Amboy...
.
Yardley's wife Jane and their three sons, Enoch, William and Thomas, died in 1702–1703 due to the a smallpox epidemic. As a result, Yardley's property in America reverted to his heirs in England, namely Yardley's brother Thomas and nephews, Thomas and Samuel, sons of Thomas. In 1694, Thomas, the younger son of Thomas (brother) and nephew
Nephew
Nephew is a son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law, and niece is a daughter of one's sibling or a sibling-in-law. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation...
to Yardley, came over with power of attorney to settle the estate. "Prospect Farm" became his property by purchase, and he settled in Lower Makefield Township, Pennsylvania
Lower Makefield Township, Pennsylvania
Lower Makefield Township is a township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA and usually referred to as "Yardley" due to the prominence of Yardley Borough in that area...
, spending his life in Pennsylvania, 12 month, 1706. Through his marriage to the daughter of William Biles
William Biles
William Biles was an American judge, attorney, legislator, sheriff, land speculator and merchant. Born in England and educated in law, Biles brought his family to America in 1679 and settled in what would become Falls Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania before the charter of William Penn...
, a prominent Provincial Judge, Assemblyman and Councilman, and the siring of ten children, nephew Thomas combined the properties of his uncle, William Yardley, and father-in-law
Father-in-law
A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship...
, William Biles
William Biles
William Biles was an American judge, attorney, legislator, sheriff, land speculator and merchant. Born in England and educated in law, Biles brought his family to America in 1679 and settled in what would become Falls Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania before the charter of William Penn...
, such that William Yardley became the ancestor of all that bear the Yardley name in Bucks County and many in other parts of the United States.