Sir George Yeardley

Quick Facts

• Full name: George Yeardley
• Born: ca. 1587, Southwark, London, England
• Died: November 12, 1627, Jamestown, Colony of Virginia
• Parents: Ralph Yeardley and Elizabeth [Unknown]
• Spouse(s): Temperance Flowerdew
• Children: Argoll Yeardley, Francis Yeardley, Elizabeth Yeardley
• Places: London, England; Jamestown, Virginia; Flowerdew Hundred, Virginia; Eastern Shore, Virginia

Verified Facts

• Knighted by King James I at Newmarket in 1618. Confirmed: Primary Source
• Three-time Governor of Virginia (1616–1617, 1619–1621, 1626–1627). Confirmed: Primary Source
• Presided over the first representative legislative assembly in the English-speaking Americas at the Jamestown Church on July 30, 1619. Confirmed: Primary Source
• Buried beneath the chancel aisle of the historic Jamestown church; archaeological excavations in 2018 identified his suspected skeletal remains. Confirmed: Primary Source

Biography

Sir George Yeardley was a foundational figure in the constitutional, administrative, and economic establishment of the Colony of Virginia. Arriving in 1610 aboard the Deliverance after shipwrecking in Bermuda, he rose to become Governor, oversaw the introduction of representative democracy to North America, and developed extensive plantations along the James River. His marriage to Temperance Flowerdew and the subsequent Yeardley-Thorowgood-Lawson-Atkins descent connects modern family branches directly into the dawn of English settlement in America.

Family Stories and Recollections

Add family stories, oral history, or recollections here.

Sources

• A Long Time Ago: A History of the Atkins-Paynter and Allied Families
• The Will of Sir George Yeardley, Knight
• Virginia Historical Magazine; Jamestown Rediscovery Project

Research Questions

List unresolved questions, conflicting evidence, or leads here.

Colonial Lineage Chart

The diagram below illustrates the foundational alliance between the Yeardley and Flowerdew families in early Virginia:

graph TD RY["Ralph Yeardley<br/>(London merchant taylor)"] --> SGY["Sir George Yeardley, Knt.<br/>(ca. 1587–1627)<br/>Gov. of Virginia"] AF["Anthony Flowerdew"] --> TF["Temperance Flowerdew<br/>(1590–1628)"] MS["Martha Stanley"] --> TF SGY --- TF SGY --> AY["Argoll Yeardley<br/>(1621–1655)<br/>Council of State"] SGY --> FY["Col. Francis Yeardley<br/>(ca. 1624–1655)"] SGY --> EY["Elizabeth Yeardley<br/>(ca. 1625–aft. 1660)"] AY --> DESC["Descendant allied lines:<br/>Thorowgood, Lawson, Atkins"]

Yeardley Family Tree

• Sir George Yeardley (ca. 1587–1627) m. Temperance Flowerdew (1590–1628)
  • Col. Argoll Yeardley (1621–1655) of Northampton County
    • Allied descendants connecting to Adam Thorowgood & Lawson lines
  • Col. Francis Yeardley (ca. 1624–1655) of Lynnhaven
  • Elizabeth Yeardley (ca. 1625–aft. 1660)

Historic James River Locations

Key sites associated with Sir George Yeardley's governance, plantations, and burial:

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Related Primary Sources & Pages

• The Will of Sir George Yeardley, Knight
• Temperance Flowerdew
• A Long Time Ago/11 Yeardley
• A Long Time Ago/12 Flowerdew
• Adam Thorowgood
• George Yeardley on Wikipedia (external reference)