Yardlay History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The ancestors of the Yardlay surname lived among the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. The name comes from when they lived in Yardley, a place-name found in several locations throughout England. The place name literally means "dweller at the Yard-Lea [Middle English yard(e, yerd(e, enclosure, court, garden; Old English g(e)ard, fence, enclosure + Middle English ley, Old English lea¡h, meadow] " 1

Early Origins of the Yardlay family

The surname Yardlay was first found in Staffordshire where they held a family seat from very ancient times, before and after the Conquest in 1066.

Early History of the Yardlay family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Yardlay 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 Yardlay History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Yardlay Spelling Variations

Before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago, spelling variations of names were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, French and other languages became incorporated into English through the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the literate. The variations of the surname Yardlay include Yardley, Yardeley, Yeardley, Yardly and others.

Early Notables of the Yardlay 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 Yardlay Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Yardlay migration to the United States +

A great wave of immigration to the New World was the result of the enormous political and religious disarray that struck England at that time. Families left for the New World in extremely large numbers. The long journey was the end of many immigrants and many more arrived sick and starving. Still, those who made it were rewarded with an opportunity far greater than they had known at home in England. These emigrant families went on to make significant contributions to these emerging colonies in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers carried this name or one of its variants:

Yardlay Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Thomas Yardlay, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1773 2

Citations +

Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)