I came into this research from the four Benjamin Yardleys of Norton in the moors, & Horton parishes. I was intrigued as to whether many of the unknown persons referred to in Yeardley stories, could be found in historic records, and then see if I could connect them to important historical events then going on. I find that the internet genealogies of the Yeardleys come from Thomas Yardley’s Genealogy (Philadelphia) book of 1881, and previously from work by Sir Walter Chetwynd of Staffordshire in the 17th century, who drew on details in the Heraldic Visitations of 1583, 1614 and 1664. Also mixed in are details from the Heraldic Visitations of Cheshire of 1613. There are also key parts missing, but Pennsylvania Quaker records seem to have other accurate details not listed elsewhere.
The area of Y(e)ardleyend in Audley parish is the known origin of the Eardley
family, but there are other villages in England called Yardley, with a number
of Yardley families from Essex, Stratford on Avon, Wiltshire and Northamptonshire
(Yardley Hastings and Yardley Gobion). .See Professor Skipp’s book – “Medieval
Yardley” (Birmingham), where his translation of the original Saxon word “Gyrd
– leahe (yer – lee)” is “a clearing in the woods”, and that is recorded in King
Edgar’s charter of 972 A.D. All the wills and deeds of the 1500’s refer to this
Staffordshire area as Yardley or Yerdeleyend. Local dialect obviously had something
to do with it, as Endon, and Eaton, Congleton, are often recorded with a Y at
the front of the name. But even during World War I there were 52 Yeardleys serving
in the British armed forces, even though over time, most surnames had crystallised
as Eardley.
Some 18 months ago I came across Abbot Thomas Yardley of Chester Abbey – 1413 to 1434, after earlier records of him in church disputes. Coincidentally, the abbey was then half owner of Lawton parish (Cheshire), adjoining Audley parish. Even more interesting is the leasing of the Lawton water mill for several years in this period by one Richard Erdeley – perhaps a relative of the abbot. The mill was almost exactly where the old parish boundaries of Audley, Wolstanton and Lawton joined.
There are (Y)eardley family documents showing the Yeardley line of Eardley Hall back to the 1300's. Deeds refer to Richard de Erdeley and wife Agnes, and his 3 sons Thomas, Richard and John in 1397 & 1398 , and there first lands were in the “old park at Audley”. This Richard is shown in 1368 as son of Egidius de Audeley and Sibilla. It is about this period that nationally, surnames became formalised, sometimes by allocation by the Lord of the manor. The forename Egidius is Dutch/Flemish, and may have some connection to the large numbers in Cheshire with the surname Fleming. Henry I in 1108 encouraged skilled Flemish workers to settle throughout the country, i.e. leaving a strong concentration of alien blood group A in Glamorganshire among the native Welsh (early British). The Bishop of Lichfield’s Staffordshire family listing of 1532 shows one Yardley family, and 6 Eardley families in Audley parish, together with wife’s and children’s names. (Staffs Historical Collections, Series - 4, volume 8).
The Thicknesses of Balterley (2 miles from Audley) are a recognised heraldic family, but the Birkes and Childs appear to be yeomen of Audley. The Parkers of Talke appear to have been there at least 600 years. The Heraldic visitation of 1583 names Eardley Hall’s William Yardley's 5 sons and wife Elizabeth (married c.1551).Eldest son William married Margery Lawton in 1579,& his first son John was born c.1583, in London. Son George was born c.1561, & apprenticed by bond to William Carter of London, of the Society of Merchant Adventurers, on Feb.8th 1575. This would have been a good step as the Company had a Royal monopoly for exporting cloth, which then made up 80% of English exports. The Society provided most of the Lord Mayors of London during this 50 year period and made huge loans to the Monarchy for the running of the government. I note that the Carters are one of the early dominant families in Virginia and have remained so to this day (i.e. President Jimmy also).
As Governor Yeardley of Virginia was known to have been awarded a medal for service to the Dutch, it throws up a coincidence. When England declared war on Spain in 1574 to assist the Dutch rebellion, the English garrisoned for the next 30 years, the two Dutch coastal forts of Brill and Flushing, which guarded the Zuyder Zee. This was why the Spanish Armada invasion force of 1588 couldn’t find a safe harbour, and fell victim to severe storms. In 1600 government records show William Yardley provisioning from his own pocket, the fortress of Brill. Was this because he had a son George there, or is it a different Yardley from the Audley one? There was also an official English army in the Low Countries fighting the Spanish from 1584 for 20 years. All the English veterans, especially future colonial leaders of later years, fought there.
Perhaps someone can trace the chance of George Yeardley serving in the great English expedition of 1596, of 140 ships, which captured the main Spanish port of Cadiz (the destination of the great Spanish treasure fleets from South America). The English fleet picked up the veteran English army from Holland .Most of the key future governors/administrators of Virginia were involved, with Thomas Smyth, Gates and West (future Lord de la Warr), being knighted at Cadiz. Other participants were Samuel Argall (vice admiral), Thomas Dale, Radcliff, Sir Edwin Sandys (vice treasurer of Virginia company), etc. All these were close colleagues of George Yeardley, but I have yet to find him at Cadiz.
There are no known details of Eardley Hall’s youngest son Randall’s death, but Biddulph parish records show the burial of Randolph (Randall) Yeardley (gentleman) in April 1615. The Royal College of Heralds advise me that as William Yerdeley was certified a gentleman in 1583, his five sons could also, as long as they had the financial means to live as one. And I note that the Yeardleys of Yardleyend are the only family of that name in Staffordshire to be officially classed as gentlemen. William Yeardley the elder seemed to move in important circles, because he is , with Robert Vernon , executor in December 1570, of Ralph Moreton of Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire (his father in law, I believe).The latter is described as gentleman usher to the Queen.
William the younger of Eardley Hall died 1624, with no mention of second wife in will. But the records of the Drake family of Devon show Sir John Drake of Ashe (died 25-8-1636), High Sheriff of Devon, as having a daughter Dorothy, marrying a William Yardley, with no further details. But he must have been of good background for the marriage, as Dorothy’s younger sister married Sir Winston Churchill of Somerset, and was the mother of the military genius, the Duke of Marlborough (Blenheim palace).
We know that second son Ralph (living at Talke), died aged 33 in 1587, and therefore is NOT the brother Ralph handling the will of Sir George Yeardley after 1627. There also seems to have been confusion with Raufe (Ralph) Yerdeley of Caldecott and Farndon (Cheshire), on the river Dee, whose will is dated 1598, but the Heraldic Visitation of 1613 shows him still alive. The same family members and in-laws are shown in both documents, including father in law Randall Dodd, of Edge, in the parish of Malpas (west Cheshire).I believe some answers to Sir George questions could be found in another 1656 Will of Ralph Yardley, Apothecary, of Saint Alban Wood Street, City of London.
I have driven often in a straight line from Farndon/Holt on the Welsh frontier and come through to a place called AUDLEY! The strategic Roman bridge over the Dee was rebuilt by Edward 1 (King 1272 – 1307) for his conquest of north Wales. I know that many stonemasons from Biddulph Moor were involved in building the string of fortress castles for Edward across Wales. Presumably there were supplies from the metalworkers of Audley, and possibly soldiers under Lord Audley. The Visitation shows the Farndon family line back to Thomas, brother of Oliver Yardley of Yardley, in King Henry V1 time (1422 – 1471).
William Yeardley the younger’s heir John, married Alice Sutton in 1601, per deeds in the Reverend Hadfield’s huge historical studies of the area, and per Sleigh's History of Leek. The latter gives as his source the Harleian manuscripts, document 1415. Dowry included the large Ravensclough estate in Rushton Spencer, where the 6 sons & 5/6 daughters of John and Alice were born. The Bucks county (Pennsylvania) records have these correct, but most lists exclude these 6 sons. The small manor house John built in 1612 stands as it was built, in a superb location below the Cloud hill, and is a small guesthouse, and should be visited. John’s son Edward (1602-1656, from gravestone) named after his maternal grandfather of Rushton Hall, opposite Rushton church, was local Justice of the Peace. There is apparently a portrait of this last direct heir of Eardley Hall in the area. Edward married late c1642 to Anne Moncks of Radwood Hall (Baldwin’s Gate). Remember that the country drifted into a long Civil war early in 1642. Edward’s colleague, Bradshaw, M.P. for Newcastle and area, and living at the Greenway, Biddulph, had been chairman of the committee that signed the death warrant of King Charles I in 1649.His body was dug up for his sins in 1660 and impaled on pikes in different areas.
Edward’s daughter Elizabeth took all the Eardley lands to her 1667 husband, Robert Wilmot of Derbyshire .But he seems to have had cash problems, because on 17thApril 1684, he mortgaged Eardley Hall to William Eardley of London. Who was he? The noted William Y(e)ardley of Horton had left for Pennsylvania in the Quaker fleet of 28 ships that settled Pennsylvania in 1682.The clues are in Cromwell’s regimental commanders and Westminster Abbey.
John Yardley’s wife Alice, and mother in law Anne (nee Stanley) are several times listed as Catholics by the Religious Gestapo, as was John in 1615.This was extremely dangerous at the time, due to hysteria over the 1605 Guy Fawkes plot to blow up King and Parliament, linked to a Spanish invasion. However, Anne Stanley’s family of Lancashire had been crucial in bringing the Tudors to the throne in 1485 (see Shakespeare’s Richard III), and had been made Lord Derby as reward (the race). Surprisingly, the Stanleys, of Anglo Saxon origin, originated from nearby Stanley village in Leek parish. Further, Anne Sutton junior’s descendants produced US president Madison and General Robert E. Lee, who knew well the Custis family of Audley farm, Berrington, Virginia (coincidence?).
The Thomas Yardley (junior), who went to Bucks county in 1704, from whom many US Yardleys descend, was born/baptised on December 19th 1675 at Horton, outside Leek He had inherited the American property of his famous uncle William Yardley and his adult children, formerly of Dairyhouse, in Horton parish. The grave of his elder brother Samuel (c. 1670 –1756) is still at Horton church.
Hope this helps. Pete
P.S. I believe the Texas Eardleys and V. C. Holder, George Eardley of Congleton, descend from Solomon Eardley of Marsh Green, Biiddulph , who himself is of interesting origin.
Addendum - added March 10, 2007:
From an email dated August 04, 2006
Hope this interests you, Pete from North Staffs (e-mail peterdzik at hotmail
dot com)
P.S. I believe the Texas Eardleys, if from Congleton, and V. C. holder, George
Eardley of Congleton, descend from Solomon Eardley of Marsh Green, Biddulph,
who himself is of interseting origin. (source - recoreds of Baron Norton of
Ham Hall, Warwickshire).
P.S.2 Did the Crockett families of old Audley emigrate west to the colonies? There is an ancient place at Caverswall, Stoke, called Crockett's Field, with old pottery making remains. The Saxon word croche means pottery, and as locals know, we call it "crockery".
Militarily, one can see the strategic position of the uplands or Audley parish over the lowlands to the west, and control over routes to the Midlands plain. These are the final ridges of the lower Pennini hills. After the withdrawal of Romano British kingdom which included North Wales, Shropshire and north Staffordshire. For 150 years up to c.700 A.D, there was continuous warfare with the invading Saxon armies along the fortified hilltops of the Maer hills (a few miles southwest of Audley), hinging on the old Roman Chesterton fort and the pre Norman forts at Audley and Heleigh (Betley parish). For 20 years archaeologists have been excavating at the Roman city of Viriconium, near the A5, and only 25 miles southwest of Audley, which was eearlier the capital of this Pre Saxon kingdom. The large wooden buildings (palaces?) belonged to the kings referred to in the old Welsh chronicles, who like many cultures had secondry names for war leaders e.g. ( Stormin' Norman, and The Desert Fox). This leader was known in battle as Artorius, or Arthur, the bear. The Welsh chronicles list events giving 539 A.D. as his death in battle, and unusually this has been confirmed by records from Java in Indonesia, and worldwide geology.
From an email dated August 10, 2006
Hi Jack,
I checked original registers at Burslem and Norton in Moors. Find that much
data is missing on IGI RECORDS. Thus 3 female Stanier christenings 1820 to 1822
at Biddulph are not on IGI.; also missing is death of James Eardley aged 66
in Burslem on 23/5/ 1809. Norton has burial of James Eardley in Jan. 1816, aged
54, few months after Benjamin Yardley. I was told some 2 years ago that no graves
listing had been done for Norton, although many other cemeteries locally have.
Other enquiries in progress.
From an email dated December 14, 2006
The Registers of Castle Parish Church, Stafford, 1568-1812
Baptisms/Christenings Burials Marriages
The query sign [?] always refers to the word or figure that follows the sign,
and not to the word or figure which precedes it.
"The register book of the parish of our Lady called the Castell church
under the Castell of Stafford begone by me John Cockes, curate there in the
year of our lord god, 1567."
1567 John Cocke, curate there.
19 Jul 1756 Ann, d. of John Marshall & Ann (born 16 Jun 1756 ) bap.
15 Aug 1756 Sarah, d. of William Wilks & Catharine (born 10 [Aug] 1756 )
bap.
22 Aug 1756 Rachael, illegit. d. of Mary Walker (born 18 [Aug] 1756 ) bap.
22 Aug 1756 James, s. of William Yardley & Hannah bap.
02 Dec 1756 Sarah, d. of Thomas Parker & Elizabeth (born 01 [Dec] 1756 )
bap.
14 Dec 1756 Henry, s. of Abraham Ward & Margaret (born 16 Nov 1756 ) bap.
26 Jan 1757 Ann, d. of William Ashton & Mary (born 24 [Jan] 1757 ) bap.
From an email dated December 28, 2006
It is surprising how more pieces of the puzzle keep popping up. My previous letter covered items found 2 years ago, but this is just unearthed. Government state papers of the Republic in 1655 – 1657 have this (summarised). Anne Picking of Alston (Cumbria or Alstonefield, Staffs?) sends a Letter of Attorney to the Committee for clearing Claims for lands in Ireland, to satisfy arrears of Captain Picking (deceaseed). These are satisfied by Major Richard Eardley of Eardley End in Audley parish, Staffs, who marries her daughter. He is to administer goods, chattels and property in Ireland. There is a note attached from a William Eardley while Richard is in London at the Committee.
Now my interest centres on Richard Yardley of Horton parish near Leek, who had a 23 year old son William at the time. But it could also be from Lieutenant - Colonel William Eardley, guardian of Eardley Hall and Ravensclough and his niece Elizabeth, until her coming of age in 1667. The case shows the problems from recording of names at the time. On his second marriage in 1656 the vicar enters “Richard Yardley alias Eardley” in the parish records. This man is unrecorded anywhere yet he has numerous descendants nationally and worldwide especially in the USA) and a link to a long previous ancestry.
These details leave open many possible links, including a possible settling in Ireland
From an email dated February 19, 2007
Will of James Eardley, Earthenware Manufacturer of Ashby de la Zouch , Leicestershire
23 May 1823
PROB 11/1670
Will of The Right Honorable Sampson Lord Eardley
04 February 1825
PROB 11/1695
Will of William Eardley of Westminster , Middlesex
28 January 1774
PROB 11/994
Will of Thomas Eardlie or Eardley
10 O
ctober 1656
PROB 11/258
Will of The Right Honorable, Sir John Eardley Wilmot, His Majesty's Most Honorable
Privy Council late Chief Justice of His Majesty's Court of Common Pleas
13 February 1792
PROB 11/1215
some useful references above for future.
Have also found that no Eardley name listed in FOUR Audley tenant lists up to
1310. But tax list of 1327 lists four ERDELEYS. GOING BY MOST name references
this seems to refer to area they were living in. The Eardley Hall guy seems
to have name totally different from rest of Audley people, probably Flemish
(belgium).
From an email dated February 23, 2007
ARDELEY (Hertfordshire)
Erdelei or Erdele (xi–xiii cent.); Erdele or Ardley (xiv cent.); Yerdley (xv–xvi
cent.); Yardley (xvi cent. to about 1850).
The parish of Ardeley was included in Odsey Hundred until 14 October 1843, when
it was transferred to Edwinstree Hundred. (fn. 1) It consists of scattered hamlets
lying on the southern slope of the chalk hills of north-east Hertfordshire,
at about an equal distance from Stevenage station on the main line of the Great
Northern railway and the terminus of Buntingford on a branch line of the Great
Eastern railway. The River Beane flows through the northern part of the parish,
and the numerous lanes connecting the outlying parts of the parish (fn. 2) are
carried across it and its tributaries by means of fords. It is recorded that
the water did great damage to the roads early in the last century. (fn. 3)
The village of Ardeley lies on the western edge of the hill overlooking the
village of Walkern and the valley of the River Beane. It consists of the church
and the vicarage (a rectangular plastered house built in 1685, (fn. 4) having
a carved wooden fireplace on the ground floor) and a few cottages around the
farm known as Church End. The manor-house called Ardeley Bury, the residence
of Col. Hans CM. Woods, R.A., is situated a little to the west.
From: 'Parishes: Ardeley', A History of the County of Hertford: volume 3 (1912), pp. 194-99. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43603. Date accessed: 23 February 2007.
From an email dated March 13, 2007
Besides the results of my own findings, this below verifies what you stated several years back in your letters. Harleian manuscripts:
"The 1583 Heraldic records also note that in ancient times the Yardleys of Staffordshire (Audley) were called Eardley."
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