Yearay History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• England

Early Origins of the Yearay family

Early History of the Yearay family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Yearay research. Another 90 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1580, 1592, 1609, 1610, 1612, 1616, 1618, 1627, 1632 and 1693 are included under the topic Early Yearay History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Yearay Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Yearay family name include Yardley, Yardeley, Yeardley, Yardly and others.

Early Notables of the Yearay family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Sir George Yardley (1580?-1627), Governor of Virginia, son of Ralph Yeardley, merchant-taylor of London. "Having served in the Low Countries, he sailed with Sir Thomas Gates to Virginia in June 1609 on board the Deliverance, and was shipwrecked in the Bermudas. He eventually reached Virginia in May 1610. In April 1616 Sir Thomas Dale, the governor, returned to England and appointed Yeardley his deputy...
Another 72 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Yearay Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Yearay family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Yearay surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Argall Yardley settled in Virginia in 1623; Ann Yardley settled in Virginia in 1652; Elizabeth, Enoch, Jane, John Yardley settled in Pennsylvania in 1750.