William Yardley

William Yardley (1632 – 6 May 1693) was an early settler of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and is the namesake of the borough of Yardley, Pennsylvania. As a persecuted Quaker minister, Yardley and his wife, Jane (nee Heath) moved from Ransclough, England, near Leek, Staffordshire, to Bucks County when Yardley was 50.

The family arrived on September 28, 1682, on the ship Friend's Adventure with their children, Thomas, Enoch, and William, and a servant, Andrew Heath (1667-1720). Yardley subsequently purchased of land in Lower Makefield Township in Bucks County from William Penn, who had received the land from Charles II of England to settle a debt owed Penn's father. Yardley named his tract "Prospect Farm". He served as a justice of the peace for Bucks County and became a member of the Provincial Council.

Jane died in 1691 and Yardley died in 1693. In his will, Yardley bequeathed half of “Prospect Farm” to his eldest son, Enoch, while the other half was divided between his sons William and Thomas.

Sadly, all of William Yardley's descendants died of smallpox in 1702-03. Due to English laws, Yardley’s estate reverted to his closest male relatives in England—his brother Thomas and nephews, Thomas and Samuel. Yardley's nephew, Thomas Yardley, arrived from England in 1704. This journey altered the course of Thomas’ life. Choosing to remain in America, he thrived in this new environment. In a 1977 article, Yardley historian Catherine Belville described him as “the creative spirit of early Yardley.”

Through marriage, nephew Thomas added land to Yardley's former holdings and had ten children.

History William Yardley was born in 1632 in Ransclough, England, located in Staffordshire. He was raised as an agriculturist, but associated with the mystic religious community in Renaissance England called the Family of Love.

When Yardley was 15, English Dissenter George Fox began preaching an unusual and uncompromising approach to English Puritanism. This led to the founding of the Religious Society of Friends, also called the Quakers, a year later in 1648. In 1656, at the age of 23, Yardley began preaching on behalf of the Quakers.

On arriving in America, Yardley became the first person named "Yardley" to immigrate into America. In addition, Yardley almost immediately took a prominent part in the affairs of the Province of Pennsylvania. wrote of him, about the time of his death: "He was a man of sound mind and good understanding." Yardley's ferry soon after became an important point, and, later in the 18th century, when the three great roads leading to Philadelphia, via the Falls, Four Lanes end (now Langhorne), and Newtown terminated there, the ferry became a thoroughfare of travel and traffic for a large section of East Jersey.

Through his marriage to the daughter of William Biles, a prominent Provincial Judge, Assemblyman and Councilman, and the siring of ten children, nephew Thomas combined the properties of his uncle, William Yardley, and father-in-law, William Biles.