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This is the title page, preface, and introduction of the Yale Genealogy written by Rodney Horace Yale and published in 1908.

YALE GENEALOGY

AND

HISTORY OF WALES

The British Kings and Princes.

LIFE OF OWEN GLYNDWR.

BIOGRAPHIES OF

GOVERNOR ELIHU YALE

For Whom Yale University was Named.

LINUS YALE, Sr., and LINUS YALE, Jr.

The Inventors of Yale Locks.

MAURICE FITZ GERALD,

The Great Leader in the Conquest of Ireland.

ROGER de MONTGOMERY

The Greatest of the Norman Lords.

and OTHER NOTED PERSONS.

BY
RODNEY HORACE YALE.

BEATRICE, NEBRASKA, U.S. A. 1908.

Beatrice, Nebr., U.S. A. July 10th, 1908.

The book herewith is substantial evidence that the New Yale Genealogy; of which I began the compilation in January 1906, has finally been published.

It contains over 150 more pages than I expected or promised, including numerous plates which l did not hope in the beginning to be able to present, as well as a history of Wales, the compilation of which was not intended at the outset. Had I been able to foresee in the beginning the many difficulties to be overcome and the incessant, persistent and continued labor, as well as expense, required to bring out a work of this nature, I fear I would have been dissuaded from the task. However I am now thankful that 1 undertook the work and if the book is appreciated by the Yales and their descendants I shall feel amply repaid.

Since beginning the work I have found that leatherette binding is not durable and I consider cloth or buckram inappropriate, so have decided to have it bound only in full leather, and I feel sure those who ordered the leatherette binding will be more than willing to pay the SOC difference for the full genuine leather when they see the book.

I have had printed a limited number more than those actually ordered and if the person receiving this book knows of others who would like copies they should have them send on their orders promptly, accompanied by the price, $5.00 and the postage 22c. Registered mail 8c extra. Prepaid Express charge would be 22c, if on either Adams, Pacific or U. S. line.

I will greatly appreciate having an acknowledgment from each person receiving the book, so I may know it has safely reached its destination.

Respectfully,

R. H. Y AL E.


PREFACE.


In compiling this work I have endeavored to present only definite and positive facts, based upon competent and proven authorities. I was intended that mere fiction and tradition should have no part in the events recorded herein, and the reader may be assured that the matter presented is authentic and founded entirely upon reliable historical, biographical, genealogical and private records.

I have kept well in mind the fact that the mere assumption, based upon tradition or like unreliable authority, of descent from or connection with noted historical characters, should have no place in a work of this class, and the ancient genealogy of the Yales as presented herein is bereft of all suppositional matter and is a bare record of facts as established by anciently recorded pedigrees and reliable historical matter,

The principal authorities consulted are: "The Welsh People" (1906). by John Rhys, M. A., Professor of Celtic in the University of Oxford, and David Brynmor-Jones, member of Parliament, "Burke's Peerage," "Burke's Landed Gentry," "The Life of Owen Glyndwr," by Bradley, "Abbeys and Castles of England and Wales," "The Dictionary of National Biographies," "Country Townships of the Old Parish of Wrexham," by Alfred Neobard Palmer, and various Encyclopedias and Histories.

Substantial and valuable special information was also supplied direct, by Mr. Alfred Neobard Palmer, of Wrexham, Wales, a recognized authority on Welsh pedigrees and family history, and by Mr. George F. C. Yale of Pwllheli, Wales, son of Wm. Corbet Yale-Jones-Parry of Plas yn Yale and Madryn Castle.

The principal original sources of information pertaining to early Britain, of the authorities named, are the ''Brut," a history of the British Princes, and "Annales Cambriae," both being of ancient Cymric origin.

The sources of information for the genealogy of the Yales after their settlement in America were, "The Yale Family," by Judge Elihu Yale, "The New Haven Historical Society Papers," the living Yales themselves, and their descendants.

I am however especially indebted to several ladies and gentlemen, who have unselfishly and loyally, rendered much valuable assistance, in supplying records, information, etc., pertaining not only to their own branches, but to other branches as well; among whom are Miss Amelia Yale, Houseville N. Y., Miss Charlotte Lilla Yale, Meriden Conn., Miss Fanny I. Yale, Hartford, Mrs. Madeline Yale-Wynne, Chicago, Mrs. C. C. Ring, Chicago, Mr. J. Hobart Yale, Meriden Conn., Mr. George H. Yale, Wallingford, Conn., Mr. William T. Yale, New York N. Y., Mr. Fred'k C. Yale, New York, N. Y., Mr. William Henry Yale, New York, N.Y.,Mr. Washington Yale, Minneapolis, Minn., Mr. F. B. Yale, Waco, Neb., Mr. D. E. Williams, Reno, Nev., Mr. Arthur Yale, Montreal, Canada, and Mr. M. B. Waterman, Buckley, Ills., and others I also wish to extend thanks to the large number of other members of the Yale family and descendants, who have unstintingly and carefully supplied the records pertaining to their own branches; and in connection with these acknowledgments, I regret that it is necessary to state, that I have found it impossible to procure from some of the Yale families, whose addresses I have, the required information regarding their ancestry, to enable me to enter their family records in this work; although I have made repeated and urgent requests. I also deeply regret that there are some few whose ancestry I have been unable to trace, even with their own aid, willingly extended. I mention these facts at this time, so that it may be understood that the author is not wholly responsible for the absence of such desirable and essential family records as may be lacking.

As many of the early ancestors of the Yales were kings and princes of ancient Britain and Wales, and others prominent leaders of the Normans in their conquest of the Principality, I concluded that the most practical way to record the events in the lives of these important personages and present same in a connected manner and the order in which they appeared in the national life, was to write a brief history of ancient Britain and Wales.

In fact the lives of these ancestors were so intertwined with the national life and constituted such an important part of it, that it would be impossible to write their biographies without also writing a history of Wales; and it would likewise be impossible to write a history of Wales without writing their biographies.

Individual biographies are presented of those ancient ancestors of prominence whose careers were not sufficiently connected with Welsh affairs so that the principal events of their lives could be told in connection therewith.

The "Yale Pedigree" presented herein will make clear the various connections and the several lines of descent. The names are numbered and these numbers are also inserted in the history of Wales, in connection with the names of the same persons, where they first appear, and in some instances the number is inserted successively with the name. Usually, however, the number is only inserted once, it being expected that the name will be recognized, as it successively appears in the narrative. The names of the ancestors in the History are all printed in capitals, to distinguish them from other names.

The Pedigree numbers are also used in connection with the "Genealogy of the Ancient Yales" and the biographies in connection with same

In reference to the family records, will state that sometimes dates given me by different members of a family for the same event would differ. In such cases I have used the date which seemed most likely correct.

Where no names of children are given it does not always follow that there were no children, but it means, at least, that no record of children was sent to me.

Addresses and dates of death, etc., are usually not given in the records of children, where the persons have individual family records in the book.

Addresses given are the last known to the author.

RODNEY HORACE YALE.

INTRODUCTION.
The family name "Yale" originated in Wales and was formerly spelled "Jal" and "Yal" and comes from the commote, hundred, or district of Yale, in Powys Fadog, Wales. The district of Yale, together with the adjoining district of Bromfield on the west, have formed since the end of the thirteenth century, a lordship, known as the lordship of Bromfield and Yale. Both Bromfield and Yale are in the county of Denbigh.

The district of Yale is an upland plain hounded on all sides by hills and contains the old parishes of Llandysiles yn Yale, Bryn Eglwys, Lianarmon yn Yale, Llandegla yn Yale and Llanrones. Each parish, except the last named, being divided into townships.

The ancient Yales were descended from Osborn Fritz Gerald (Osbwrn Wyddel), of the country of Merioneth, Wales; and one of his descendants, Ellis ap Griffith, married Margaret, the heiress of Plas yn Yale, in the lordship of Bromfield and Yale; and in this way the estate of Plas yn Yale came into the family, and the descendants of Ellis and Margaret later on definitely adopted the name Yale as a family surname; and with the exception of the Lloyds of Bodidris, with whom they were connected, were the most important family in Yale. Thus it will be seen that the name of Yale, as well as the estate of Plas yn Yale, were derived from the maternal side of the house. Dr. Thomas Yale, who died in 1577 and who was Chancellor of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury and grandson of Ellis ap. Griffith and his wife Margaret, was the first to definitely assume the surname of Yale; and his nephews, Thomas Yale and Dr. David Yale (Dr. David Lloyd), who were respectively the ancestors of the Yales of Plas yn Yale and of Plas Grono, continued the name.

Surnames in Wales did not pass from father to son, in the way to which we are now accustomed, until the latter part of the sixteenth century, and the practice was not definitely settled for a long time after-wards. Sons usually had for a surname, the given name of the father; however they often assumed names derived from estates, castles, towns or districts; and as we have previously noted, the family name "Yale" was derived from the name of the district of Yale, in the lordship of Bromfield and Yale.

The Yales, although natives of Wales, were of Italian and Norman, as well as British blood There seems however to be no evidence of Saxon stock in the ancestry.

The first ancestor recorded in the pedigree, in the direct male line is Dominus Otho, a nobleman from Florence Italy (a Florentine); but he was not the only ancestor of Italian blood, as Cuneda, the bead of the long line of British kings and princes, from whom the Yales are descended on the maternal side of the house, was no doubt partly of Roman parentage.

The predominant strain in this ancient ancestry was however undoubtedly British (Brythonic), as the maternal ancestors were nearly all , if not all, Welsh (British), except Alice de Montgomery, through whom came the connection with the Normans.

As regards the personality and rank of these early ancestors, it can be properly stated that their political and social standing was on an equality with the great nobles and the rulers, of the times. There are but few, if any, families among the nobility of any land, that can point to a more honorable and noble lineage, than that of the Yales; descended as they are from the ancient kings and princes of Britain and from the greatest of all the Norman lords, Roger de Montgomery, (who was of the same family as William the Conqueror), as well as from Maurice Fitz Gerald, the commander of the first expedition in the Norman conquest of Ireland.

The antiquity of the Yale pedigree is equally eminent, dating back as it does, in the direct male line, to Dominus Otho, the Florentine noble, who came to England in 1057, nine years before the Norman conquest; and on the maternal side to Cuneda, the first ruler of the Cymric nation, about the year 415 A. D. But few noble, or in fact Royal families, can claim greater antiquity.

The pedigree presented herein will make clear, the connections referred to. and it will be noted that the Yales are connected with the House of Cuneda and the succeeding Kings and Princes, through three distinct maternal lines. One of these maternal ancestors being, Lowne, daughter of Tudor Glyndwr (Tudor ap Griffith Vychan), and niece of the memorable Owen Glyndwr. Her great grandfather, Thomas ap Llewelyn, as will be noted, was also the ancestor of the five Tudor Kings and Queens of England, and the present King Edward VII, as well.

Her grandfather Griffith Vychan, was descended also from the Kings and Princes of Wales and the Princes of Powys Padog, who lived at Castle Dinas Bran.

Another one of the three Welsh princesses referred to in the preceding paragraph was Nesta, the "Helen of Wales," who was not only great in herself and in her ancestry, but great in her posterity as well.

The third maternal ancestor referred to was, Gladys, daughter of the Prince of North Wales.

In referring to the pedigree and history of Wales, it will be seen that the ancestors of the Yales, among the Kings and Princes of Britain and Wales, were mainly the sovereign rulers. Attention is called to this fact, as there were many under kings and princes of minor importance, who ruled over smaller territories, which were parts of the whole and subject to the sovereign king or prince.

In writing the foregoing particulars relative to the ancient ancestry of the Yales, I am sensibly aware of the prevalent practice among writers of works of this class, to endeavor to connect the family lineage with some noted historical character, whether justified in so doing by authentic records or not, and I realize that many are disposed to scoff at such claims; however I can do no less than follow the indisputable authorities bearing on the origin of the Yales and their ancestry and feel a sufficient justification in presenting the matter set forth, in the absolute knowledge that it is amply substantiated by competent and reliable records.

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