| Biography |
- Sir George Yeardley, knighted at Newmarket, 24 Nov 1618, during the birthday celebration of the Prince of Wales, was one of sixty gentlemen subscribers and share-holders under the Second Charter of the Virginia Company, 23 May 1609. He followed neither the trade of his father nor that of his brother, Ralph Yeardley, but chose the life of a soldier and joined a company of English foot- soldiers to fight in the Netherlands against Spain, common enemy of England and Holland. As Captain of the personal bodyguard of soldiers selected to serve Sir Thomas Gates during his term as Governor of Virginia. Yeardley sailed 1 June on the newly appointed official on the "Seaventure," the flag-ship of the 1609 expedition. The ships in the expedition encountered a hurricane and the passengers on the "Seaventure," wrecked off the coast of the Bermuda Islands, were forced to remain on those islands for nine months and did not reach Virginia until 1610. Finding the colony in a desperate situation because of sickness, hostility of the Indians and an insufficient food supply, Sir Thomas Gates concurred in a decision of the settlers to abandon Jamestown and return to England. However, he ordered his own company of soldiers under Capt. George Yeardley to guard the town and prevent anyone setting fire to the buildings as they were evacuated. This precaution enabled the colonists to reclaim their habitations when the timely arrival of Lord De La Warr bringing relief turned back the ships already embarked down the James River for their return. Capt. Yeardley was co-commander of the early Forts Henry and Charles established at Kecoughtan and he and Capt. Edward Brewster were in charge of 150 men ordered by Lord De La Warr to set out for the mountains to discover gold or silver mines, Oct 1610. He was designated Deputy Governor, 1616, when Sir Thomas Dale, appointed Governor, 1614, returned to England. One of his first tasks as Deputy-Governor was to force the Chickahominy Indians to keep their agreement, made during Dale's time, to supply the colonist with food. He led 84 men against them and not only obtained the required food, but brought about a peace with the natives which lasted two years and assured a continuing supply of provisions. Yeardley returned to England late in 1617 when Samuel Argall arrived with a commission to govern the colony. On 29 Sept 1618 George Yeardley was appointed to replace Argall and was officially confirmed Governor and Captain-General of Virginia, 18 Nov 1618. Six days later he was knighted. He and his wife Temperance sailed for Virginia aboard the "George," 10 Jan 1618/9, arriving at Jamestown 19 Apr 1619, having been delayed by a "sore voyage." Under the leadership of Sir George Yeardley and less than four months after his arrival in Virginia, the first representative legislative Assembly to meet on American soil convened at the church in Jamestown, 30 July 1619. One of the first acts was to set the price of tobacco. Yeardley declined a second appointment as Governor, but remained in Virginia as a member of the Council and served as Deputy Governor, 1625, when his successor Sir Francis Wyatt returned to England. However, Sir George Yeardley was commissioned Governor a second time, 4 Mar 1626/7, but did not complete his term of office as he died at Jamestown where he was buried in the church, 13 Nov 1627. His will, dated 12 Oct 1627 at Jamestown, was proved in Virginia, 5 Feb 1727/8, and in London, 14 Feb 1627/8, with administration granted to his brother Ralph Yeardley. He named "my wife Temperance" and his three children, all under 21. He mentioned "his house in James City where in I now dwell, my lands and houses within the island of James City . . . my one thousand acres of land at Stanley in Warwicke River." With his commission as Governor, 18 Nov 1618, there were assigned "300 acres of land to be set out for the Governor so to ease the Company henceforward of all charge in mayntayning him." At Flowerdew Hundred, his plantation of 1,000 acres on the south side of James River opposite Weyanoke, Yeardley had built the first windmill in the colony. By 1624 he had sold this plantation to Capt. Abraham Peirsey. In 1626 Governor Yeardley intimated his intention of taking out a patent of 1,000 acres on Mulberry Island in the area which later became Warwick County and in the 1626 list of patents Governor Yeardley was credited with 3700 acres at Hungars on the Eastern Shore.
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1587 - Bef 1627 (< 40 years)
