Philip Yorke (antiquary)
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Philip Yorke (30 July 1743 – 19 February 1804) was a Welsh politician who sat in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
between 1775 and 1792 and an antiquary who developed an interest in Welsh history and
genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...
relatively late in life. He was the author of ''The Royal Tribes of Wales'' (1799).


Background

The son of Simon Yorke (1696–1767) and Dorothy Hutton (1717–1787), he was born at
Erddig Erddig Hall ( cy, Neuadd Erddig; or simply Erddig; ) is a Grade-I listed National Trust property in Wrexham, Wales. Standing south of Wrexham city centre, it comprises a country house built during the 17th and 18th centuries amidst a 1,900 ac ...
, not far from
Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
(Denbighshire, Wales). He was related to Philip Yorke, first earl of Hardwicke, who was uncle to Simon's father Simon Yorke. His mother, Dorothy, was a daughter of Matthew Hutton of Newnham, Hertfordshire. After receiving his basic education in
Wanstead Wanstead () is a town in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge, London, Redbridge to the east and Forest Gate to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is ...
and at
Newcome's School Newcome's School was a fashionable boys' school in Hackney, then to the east of London, founded in the early 18th century. A number of prominent Whig families sent their sons there. The school closed in 1815, and the buildings were gutted in 182 ...
in Hackney, he went to
Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...
and subsequently in 1762 to Benet College, Cambridge, where he was awarded an MA degree in 1765. He proceeded to
Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
in 1762 and was '
called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
' in 1767. He took delight in classical literature, and became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1768.


Marriages and career

Yorke married his first wife, Elizabeth Cust, daughter of Sir John Cust on 2 July 1770 and had two daughters and five sons. At the
1774 British general election The 1774 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 14th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Lord North's government ...
, Yorke and his brother-in-law Francis Cockayne-Cust stood as candidates at
Helston Helston ( kw, Hellys) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map shee ...
and were returned on petition on 15 March 1775. Elizabeth died in February 1779. At the general election of
1780 Events January–March * January 16 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Cape St. Vincent: British Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a Spanish fleet. * February 19 – The legislature of New York votes to allow ...
he was again returned at Helston, after a petition, but vacated his seat at the end of the first session of Parliament in June 1781. In 1782, Philip married his second wife Diana Meyrick, widow of Ridgeway Owen Meyrick of Bodorgan, Anglesey (died 1805), who was a daughter of Piers Wynne of Dyffryn Aled,
Llansannan Llansannan is a rural village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It lies on the bank of the River Aled and is about 8 miles to the south of Abergele and to the west of Denbigh. The population was 1,291 in 2001, with 67% able to speak ...
. They had two daughters and four sons. Hardwicke offered Yorke a Parliamentary seat at
Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...
at the 1784, but he declined because he did not want to live regularly in London. He was a country gentleman, honest and independent, but less interested in politics than in agricultural and antiquarian pursuits. He was
High Sheriff of Denbighshire The first High Sheriff of Denbighshire was John Salusbury, snr, appointed in 1540. The shrievalty of Denbighshire, together with that of Flintshire, continued until 1974 when it was abolished after the county and shrievalty of Clwyd was create ...
in 1786–1787. On 17 January 1792 he was returned as MP for
Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...
by his brother-in-law, on the united Brownlow and Rutland interest, as a seat-warmer until his son
Simon Yorke Simon Yorke (27 July 1771 – 12 December 1834) was a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1793 to 1802. Yorke was the son of Philip Yorke of Erddig and his first wife Elizabeth Cust daughter of Sir John Cust, 3rd Baronet, a ...
came of age. The
Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...
(1804, p. 280) wrote, "His constitutional diffidence would not allow him to speak in the House of Commons." His second marriage gave him a growing interest in Welsh history and genealogy. He began to study closely the ancestors of his wife, a descendant of Marchudd ap Cynan, lord of Uwch Dulas and said that he had come to "think the race of Cadwallon more glorious than the breed of Gimcrack," as he wrote in his ''Tracts of Powys'', his first book on Welsh history and genealogy, which was published in 1795. He is remembered above all for a considerably longer work, ''The Royal Tribes of Wales'', published in 1799 (see below). After suffering with spasms on his chest, Yorke died on 19 February 1804, followed by his wife Diana in 1805. His public performances in high-level politics are said to have been rather restrained and according to C. J. Apperley, he was "one of the worst-dressed men in the country" and an incompetent horseman. He was nevertheless a noted conversationalist and storyteller and achieved a measure of fame for his performances as an amateur actor at the Wynnstay Theatre.


Death and burial

A memorial inscription to him in the Church of St Deiniol and St Marcella in Marchwiel, Denbighshire, Wales, states: In memory of PHILIP YORKE of Erthig, . whoſe integrity of heart, of manners, and intellectual endowments, they endeared him to , were to his own breaſt a perpetual of peace, complacency, and . He died on 19 February 1804, in the 61st year of his age. Go gentle Spirit, and from Heav'n receive That high reward which Heav'n alone can give! With of years well-Spent depart, Waiting His mercy ... can Search the heart.


Works

His first genealogical book, the ''Tracts of Powys'', was published in 1795, in a run of 70 copies. Dedicated to Thomas Pennant of Downing, it was based on a limited range of printed sources as well as on correspondence with scholars such as Walter Davies. The work details the history of the descendants of
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn Bleddyn ap Cynfyn ( owl, Bledẏnt uab Kẏnỽẏn;  AD 1075), sometimes spelled Blethyn, was an 11th-century list of rulers of Wales, Welsh king. Harold Godwinson and Tostig Godwinson installed him and his brother, Rhiwallon ap Cynf ...
, offers a stern riposte to
Polydore Vergil Polydore Vergil or Virgil (Italian: ''Polidoro Virgili''; commonly Latinised as ''Polydorus Vergilius''; – 18 April 1555), widely known as Polydore Vergil of Urbino, was an Italian humanist scholar, historian, priest and diplomat, who spent ...
's negative appraisal of the early Britons, and devotes some space to the crown lordships of Powys. The appendix includes letters by Goronwy Owen and
Lewis Morris Lewis Morris (April 8, 1726 – January 22, 1798) was an American Founding Father, landowner, and developer from Morrisania, New York, presently part of Bronx County. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continen ...
. The ''Tracts of Powys'' formed the basis for a considerably larger and better known work of his: ''The Royal Tribes of Wales'', published in 1799. It was written with some help from Walter Davies. It set out to follow the so-called 'Five Royal Tribes of Wales' and the noble pedigrees that sprang from them. Yorke was initially sympathetic to the origin myth of the Welsh people, including the traditions which traced its descent from Trojan forebears, but later rejected such theories. Yorke also worked on a history of "the Fifteen Common Tribes of Wales", but did not live to complete it.


References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yorke, Philip Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London 1743 births 1804 deaths Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge People from Wrexham County Borough Welsh antiquarians People educated at Eton College Members of Lincoln's Inn People educated at Newcome's School British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies 18th-century Welsh historians