YALE, David (d.1690)

David Yale was the son of Ann Eaton* and stepson of Theophilus Eaton. He was brother to Thomas Yale* and Ann Hopkins*, brother-in-law to Edward Hopkins*, and stepbrother to Hannah Eaton* and Theophilus Eaton Jr*. Yale was a London merchant, of St Stephen's, Coleman Street. He and his wife Ursula had a family estate, Plas Grono, near Wrexham in Denbighshire.

Yale emigrated with Theophilus Eaton in 1637, along with other merchants from St Stephen's, Coleman Street. He owned land in New Haven, where Eaton was governor, but was soon to be found in Boston. He is not known to have been a church member or a freeman. In 1646 Yale joined the ‘Remonstrants’ – Robert Child*, Thomas Fowle*, Samuel Maverick, Thomas Burton, John Dand and John Smith – who prepared a petition which aimed to place Massachusetts under closer parliamentary supervision from England.

Yale returned to England in 1651. He appointed Thomas Clarke and Thomas Lake of Boston as his attorneys in New England on 8 July 1651, and probably set sail soon after that. Ursula Yale, and their children born in New England – David, Elihu and Theophilus – followed in 1652. Yale divided his time between London and the family estate in Denbighshire. On 7 December 1655, Yale provided a certificate for John Wheelwright* on his admission to the living of Belleau, Aby and Swaby in Lincolnshire, together with other merchants who had strong ties with New England.