Robert Francis Yeardley letter

18 October, 2000

Dear Eardley/Yardley Family Members Everywhere in the World:

After all the excitement of the 15th July 2000 Eardley Family Get Together Reunion in Audley, England at the Church of St. James, we have all paused for breath and many of us have been enjoying a well earned rest. What a brilliant, fantastic, wonderful weekend it was, just seeing all these Eardleys. And to have a service at the church where Eardleys had been from day one. Those of us who attended will never forget it and we all trust that your efforts and energy were repaid with interest. Not only did Eardleys provide colonists for most of the English-speaking world, we now discover that we provided significant leadership in that amazing exodus from Britain which has brought both enlightenment and democracy to very large portions of the world. We already knew we had a governor of Tasmania and a General Culling-Eardley involved in the' Indian Mutiny' in addition to a Lord Chancellor and several bishops. What we were not aware of was that in Sir George Yeardley (that was how we spelled our name in 1600), we had a family member who actually granted 'Independence' to America long before the events of 1776! Let me explain as briefly as I can.

Recent research indicates that Oliver Yardley married Margaret Eardley of Eardley Hall. Oliver Yardley was from Warwickshire around 50 miles south of Audley. They had children, one of whose descendants married into the Moreton family. Local people are very familiar with Moreton Hall, one of the finest Elizabethan structures still standing in the north of England. It is now owned by the National Trust and is viewed by thousands each year. The great-grandson of Oliver Yardley, William, married Elizabethan Moreton and their son is our George (later Sir George) Yeardley. It could be that the spelling is a compromise between Yardley and Eardley. George is said to have been raised in London's Southwark district, so clearly some of the family had for some reason moved to the London Capital. I recall the guide at Moreton Hall mentioning that prior to winter months, the windows were removed and transported to London. London must have been the Moreton familys' winter residence. It should not surprise us therefore to find a young man more attracted to the excitement of London than to life in the provinces.

However, let me say a brief word about the Yardleys. Jeff Hammond on the genforum.geneaology.com/Yardley/messages/19html tells us a most interesting piece of information. One of the Yardley forebears was one of the Barons who witnessed the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215. Everyone who ever watched a Robin Hood movie will remember the 'wicked' King John. The nobles of England eventually forced King John to sign a sort of 'Bill of Rights' for every citizen which became the platform upon which English Common Law was constructed. American law is also based largely on English Common Law, as is that of the rest of the English speaking world. So it is most exciting to be aware that one of our ancestors was active in granting us our early freedoms and rights.

Young George must have been an adventurous type and also seemed to know the people who counted in London society. Many of the families who came to Virginia in the early days, e.g. the Sandys family were and still are powerful English families. Queen Elizabeth I was a 'fan' of the town of Nantwich, just a few miles from Audley and Moreton Hall and indeed she is said to have slept at Moreton Hall and paid for the rebuilding of Nantwich after much of it was destroyed by fire. So, it would be not surprising that the Young George Yeardley would find acceptance amongst the elite of London society.

The year 1609 found the 26 year old GeorgeYeardley sailing for the infant colony of Virginia on board the 'Deliverance'. He is shipwrecked and is forced to spend time in Bermuda before completing the trip to Jamestown. There he married Temperance Honeydew West, obviously a Puritan and they had three children. On a return trip to England he speaks up for the settlers against the 'Court Group' in a long interview with King James I, who duly knights him. The now 'Sir' George is appointed Governor of Virginia, a post he is to occupy three times. He is extremely popular with the colonists and he calls into being the first free democratic representative assembly in North America. After three years King James terminated its existence in favor of 'direct rule'. We can only speculate how the history of America (and even the world!) may have been altered had Sir GeorgeYeardley's Assembly been allowed to develop. King James' fateful decision would eventually lead to a gradual rift between Britain and its American Colonies which would erupt into revolution and independence for what is now the United States of America. In any event, Eardleys on both sides of the Atlantic can draw some satisfaction that one of our ancestors beat George Washington to it by a century and a half!

Sir GeorgeYeardley's children have descendants in the United States. today. It would be interesting for them to be able to contact us and learn about Audley, 15th July, 2000 and the rest of our worldwide family story. In checking boat lists from England to America we were aware in the early 1600s that this George Yeardley was noted on the ship's manifest. It was our intention at that time though to follow the Audley background. Sir George Yeardley's name resurfaced from a story by a Philip Eardley who sent me a picture of the house built in the Jamestown area by 'Daughters of the American Revolution' in the early 1900s as a memorial to Sir George Yeardley on the very spot where that first Assembly was convened. Philip Eardley and his wife were touring Virginia last year and came upon it quite by accident. The reunion was uppermost in my mind at that time and it is only now that I am beginning to realize just how important to us Eardleys this connection will be. Robert Mayer has also done some research on this and it is fair to say that Robert has more data on many Eardley family issues than the majority of us. Linda Eardley Hollis has offered to help research the Yeardley story since she lives only 3-1/2 hours drive away (her words not mine!) I feel she may be able to check some questions out for us 'on the spot' so to speak. Barbara Eardley Mangum from Prince George, Virginia originally from East Liverpool, Ohio is not too far also from Jamestown, Virginia and may be of help. Sonny Eardley also indicates that much of the Yeardley story is described in a book 'Adventures of Purse and Person' which is available on Amazon.com. Glenn Waight, who is known to us has also offered to help research the story. Glenn will reveal his findings in the East Liverpool Review. Eardleys worldwide can access this newspaper either by using the link from our website 'Eardley.org' or Potterstown.com

However, for a moment let me develop briefly the Yeardley significance in the history of the United States. Sir George Yeardley was responsible for the construction of the first windmill in North America. Is it going too far to call him the 'father' of American mechanized farming? Perhaps so, but he seems to have been a dynamic, farsighted administrator as well as a man of action. He was a renowned 'Indian Fighter' and was an enthusiastic recruiting officer for new immigrants to Virginia As a reward he acquired large tracts of land in Virginia. He survived the massacre of 1622. On that first assembly sat Sir George Yeardley's nephew, last name Rossingham and his friend John Jefferson, ancestor of Thomas Jefferson. So esteemed is Jefferson that Civil War President of the 'South', Jefferson Davis took his name, as did President William Jefferson Clinton.

However, it gets more interesting, every American (and quite a few non-Americans!) know that George Washington married Martha Custis. She was a widow who had four children from her first marriage to John Parke Custis. George looked upon them as his own and the family apparently got along extremely well. However, research now shows that this same Custis family (from an Anne Custis) had married Sir George Yeardley's grandson Argoll. From this part of the Custis family came the same John Parke Custis, first husband of 'First Lady' of the United States of America, Martha Custis. As if this is not enough for one day a little more research tells us that from George Washington's Custis step-children would be related to the wife of Robert E. Lee, the great Confederate General of the Civil War. You know it seems to me that America is much more like England than many of us thought. What I mean is that a few 'powerful families' in both countries seem to acquire and retain power by strategic marriages. The group from Virginia seem to have wielded a disproportionately large slice of power in the early centuries of the history of United States. The descendants of the 'Planters' seem to have become a kind of 'American Nobility' if you know what I mean.

Those Virginia families were not alone in seeking out strategic marriages. Here in North Staffordshire the Offleys of Madeley, the Moretons, the Yeardleys/Yardleys/Eardleys (it is all the one name) and the Audleys all did the same. It has always been the same throughout history. Sarah Offley married Francis Yeardley in Virginia and Moreton's married Yeardleys in Staffordshire, England. Also Audley Farm, owned by the Custis family (one of the most prestigious stud-farms in Virginia and reputed to be hundreds of years old) seems to suggest that an Audley may have settled in Virginia too! Stafford County, Virginia is known as the 'mother of counties' and we still find Stafford and Staffordville in Virginia. Speaking of Yardleys Jack, I need not remind you that your great-grandfather was born a Yardley and married as an Eardley. The 'Jefferson Papers' in the Library of Congress contain many early documents from the period. On a number of occasions, Sir George Yeardley signs himself as 'Yardley'.

There is much yet to discover about this fascinating family of which we are all proud to be a part. Anyone wishing to pursue this need only type in 'Sir George Yeardley on any of the search engines such as yahoo.com, northernlight.com, altavista.com to access streams of information on this and related topics. Simply click on the blue heading. One I can recommend is the 'Walke Family Scrapbook'. Another is 'The Miles Files'. Its just a question of bringing it all together. A little piece of trivia I discovered yesterday is that American author James Fennimore Cooper of 'Last of the Mohicans' fame had a nephew John Yeardley Cooper. On a lighter note 'Simpsons' fans may wish to connect us to Yeardley Smith, is she Bart's wife?

Is it possible some organization such as the 'Daughters of the American Revolution' since they are aware of Sir George Yeardley could make the connection to Audley, England. I for one would be excited to visit Jamestown and Williamsburg to follow up on this and even have a reunion there in Virginia. Any thoughts anyone? Put them on the Eardley Bulletin Message Board.

God Bless Everyone

Robert Francis Eardley