Elihu Yale
Encyclopedia
Elihu Yale was a Welsh merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...

 and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

, governor of the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

, and a benefactor of the Collegiate School of Connecticut, which in 1718 was named Yale College
Yale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...

 in his honour.

Life

Born in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Colony of Massachusetts to David Yale (1613–1690) and Ursula Knight (1624–1698), Yale was the grandson of Ann Lloyd (1591–1659), who after the death of her first husband, Thomas Yale (1590–1619) in Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, married Governor Theophilus Eaton
Theophilus Eaton
Theophilus Eaton was a merchant, farmer, and Puritan colonial leader who was the co-founder and first governor of New Haven Colony, Connecticut.-Early life and first marriage:...

 (1590–1657) of New Haven Colony
New Haven Colony
The New Haven Colony was an English colonial venture in present-day Connecticut in North America from 1637 to 1662.- Quinnipiac Colony :A Puritan minister named John Davenport led his flock from exile in the Netherlands back to England and finally to America in the spring of 1637...

. In 1652, when Elihu was three years old, the Yale family moved back to England and never returned to North America.

Yale's ancestry can be traced back to the family estate at Plas yn Iâl near the village of Llandegla
Llandegla
Llandegla or Llandegla-yn-Iâl is a village and community in the county of Denbighshire in Wales. In the 2001 census, the community had a population of 494.- Name :...

, Denbighshire
Denbighshire
Denbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years...

, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. The name Yale is the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 spelling of the Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

 place name, Iâl.

For 20 years, Yale was part of the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

, and he became the second governor of a settlement at Madras (now Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

), India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, in 1687, after Streynsham Master
Streynsham Master
Sir Streynsham Master was one of the 17th century pioneers of the English East India Company. He served as the Agent of Madras from 27 January 1678 to 3 July 1681 and is credited with having introduced the first administrative reforms in the Madras Government.Returning to England, in 1692 he...

. He was instrumental in the development of the Government General Hospital
Government General Hospital
Government General Hospital or G.G.H. is a major hospital situated in Chennai, India. The hospital is funded and managed by the state Government of Tamil Nadu; hence it is state-owned. It was founded in 1664 by the British East India Company...

, housed at Fort St. George. Yale amassed a fortune in his lifetime, largely through secret contracts with Madras merchants, against the East India Company's directive. By 1692, Elihu Yale's repeated flouting of East India Company regulations and growing embarrassment at his illegal profiteering resulted in his being relieved of the post of governor.

Yale returned to London in 1699, and resided at Plas Grono, near Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...

, a mansion bought by his father. Having amassed considerable wealth, Yale spent it liberally in England.

In 1718, Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather, FRS was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author and pamphleteer; he is often remembered for his role in the Salem witch trials...

 contacted Yale and asked for his help. Mather represented a small institution of learning that had been founded as the Collegiate School of Connecticut in 1701, and it needed money for a new building in New Haven, Connecticut. Yale sent Mather a carton of goods that the school subsequently sold, earning them £
Pound sign
The pound sign is the symbol for the pound sterling—the currency of the United Kingdom . The same symbol is used for similarly named currencies in some other countries and territories, such as the Irish pound, Gibraltar pound, Australian pound and the Italian lira...

800 pounds sterling, a substantial sum in the early 18th century. In gratitude, officials named the new building Yale; eventually the entire institution became Yale College
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

.

Tenure as President of Madras

As soon as Elihu Yale took over the administration of Fort St George
Fort St George
Fort St George is the name of the first English fortress in India, founded in 1639 at the coastal city of Madras, the modern city of Chennai. The construction of the Fort provided the impetus for further settlements and trading activity, in what was originally a no man's land...

 on July 26, 1687, he implemented an order dated January 14, 1685 which required the English
English colonial empire
The English colonial empire consisted of a variety of overseas territories colonized, conquered, or otherwise acquired by the former Kingdom of England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries....

 at Fort St George to make all attempts at procurement of the town of St Thome
Santhome
-History:The word Santhome or San Thome is derived from Saint Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. The local Christian belief is that the apostle came to India in A.D.52, was martyred in A.D.72 at St.Thomas Mount in the City and was interred in Mylapore. A church was built over his...

 on lease. To this effect, Chinna Venkatadri was sent to negotiate with the local Governor on August 4, 1687. The mission was successful and Chinna Venkatadri assumed sovereignty over St Thome for a period of three years. Notwithstanding the vehement protests of the Portuguese inhabitants of St Thome, the English gained absolute control over all lands up to St Thomas Mount for a period of three years.

In September 1688, the Mughal Emperor
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire ,‎ or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...

 Aurangazeb took Golconda
Golconda
Golconda may be:Places:* Golkonda, ruined city and fortress in India* Golconda, Illinois, town in the United States* Golconda, Nevada, former town in the United StatesOther:* Golconda...

 after a prolonged battle. The Sultan of Golconda was taken prisoner and the state annexed by the Mughals. The newly designated Mughal Subedar
Subedar
Subedar is a historical rank in the Indian Army, ranking below British commissioned officers and above non-commissioned officers. The rank was otherwise equivalent to a British lieutenant and was introduced in the East India Company's presidency armies, to make it easier for British officers to...

 of the province immediately sent a letter to the British authorities at Fort St George demanding that the English at Madras acknowledge the overlordship of the Mughal Emperor. To this, they complied willingly. Aurangazeb guaranteed the independence of Madras, but in return demanded that the English supply troops in the event of a war against the Marathas. It was around this time that Yale's three-year old son David Yale died and was interred in the Madras cemetery.

The records of this period mention a flourishing slave trade in Madras. When the demand began to increase rapidly, the English merchants began to kidnap young children and deport them to distant parts of the world, very much against their will. The administration of Fort St George eventually stepped in and introduced laws to curb the menace. On February 2, 1688, Elihu Yale, with the support of a majority of factors, decreed that henceforth, slaves should be examined by the judges of the choultry
Choultry
A choultry, or tschultri, is a resting place for visitors where rooms and food are provided by a charitable institution for nominal rates.Some were guesthouses where accommodation was free of charge...

 before being transported. Transportation of young children, in particular, was made unlawful.

During Yale's Presidency, a plan for setting up a corporation in Madras was conceived by Josiah Child, the President of the Board of Directors of the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

, in a letter addressed to the factors at Madras on September 28, 1687. Three months later, Josiah Child and his deputy had an audience with James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

, and as per the ensuing discussions, a Charter was issued by the king on December 30, 1687 which established the Corporation of Madras. The charter came into effect on September 29, 1688, and a Corporation was established comprising a Mayor, 12 Aldermen, 60-100 Burgesses and sergeants. Nathaniel Higginson
Nathaniel Higginson
Nathaniel Higginson was an English politician and a scion of the Higginson family of Salem, Massachusetts who served as the first Mayor of Madras and later as the President of the colony from 3 October 1692 to 7 July 1698.-Early life:Nathaniel Higginson was born at Guilford, Connecticut Colony in...

, who was then the second member of the Council of Fort St George took office as the Mayor of Madras.

In August 1689, a French fleet appeared near the coast of Ceylon
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

 compelling the Governor of Pulicat
Pulicat
Pulicat is a historic seashore town in Thiruvallur District, of Tamil Nadu state, South India. It is about 60 km north of Chennai and 3 km from Elavur, on the barrier island of Sriharikota, which separates Pulicat Lake from the Bay of Bengal. Pulicat lake is a shallow salt water lagoon...

 Lawrence Pitt who was on high seas to seek protection within the bastions of Fort St George. Throughout the year 1690, French naval ships from Pondicherry ravaged the coast in order to drive the English and the Dutch out of the East Indies but were unsuccessful. They eventually withdrew from their enterprise when faced with heavy losses. It was also during this time that the English purchased the town of Tegnapatnam from the Marathas.

Accusations of Corruption and Removal

As governor of Fort St. George, Yale purchased territory for private purposes with East India Company funds, including a fort at Tevnapatam (now Cuddalore
Cuddalore
Cuddalore is a fast growing industrial city and headquarter of Cuddalore district in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India. Located south of Pondicherry on the coast of Bay of Bengal, Cuddalore has a large number of industries which employ a great deal of the city's population.Cuddalore is known...

). Yale imposed high taxes for the maintenance of the colonial garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....

 and town, resulting in an unpopular regime and several revolts by Indians, brutally quelled by garrison soldiers. Yale was also notorious for arresting and trying Indians on his own private authority, including the hanging of a stable boy who had absconded with a Company horse.

Charges of corruption were brought against Elihu Yale in the last years of his Presidency. He was eventually removed in 1692 and replaced with Nathaniel Higginson
Nathaniel Higginson
Nathaniel Higginson was an English politician and a scion of the Higginson family of Salem, Massachusetts who served as the first Mayor of Madras and later as the President of the colony from 3 October 1692 to 7 July 1698.-Early life:Nathaniel Higginson was born at Guilford, Connecticut Colony in...

 as the President of Madras.

Death and legacy

Yale died on July 8, 1721 in London, England, but was buried in the churchyard of the parish church of St. Giles
St Giles' Church, Wrexham
St Giles' Church is the parish church of Wrexham, Wales. Its tower is traditionally one of the Seven Wonders of Wales, which are commemorated in an anonymously written rhyme:...

 in Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...

, Wales. His tomb is inscribed with these lines:
Born in America, in Europe bred
In Africa travell'd and in Asia wed
Where long he liv'd and thriv'd; In London dead
Much good, some ill, he did; so hope all's even
And that his soul thro' mercy's gone to Heaven
You that survive and read this tale, take care
For this most certain exit to prepare
Where blest in peace, the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in silent dust.


Wrexham Tower, part of Saybrook College, Yale
Saybrook College
Saybrook College is one of the 12 residential colleges at Yale University. It was founded in 1933 by partitioning the Memorial Quadrangle into two parts: Saybrook and Branford....

, is a replica
Replica
A replica is a copy closely resembling the original concerning its shape and appearance. An inverted replica complements the original by filling its gaps. It can be a copy used for historical purposes, such as being placed in a museum. Sometimes the original never existed. For example, Difference...

 of that of St. Giles' Church, Wrexham.

In Boston, Massachusetts, a tablet to Yale was erected in 1927 at Scollay Square
Scollay Square
Scollay Square was a vibrant city square in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It was named for William Scollay, a prominent local developer and militia officer who bought a landmark four-story merchant building at the intersection of Cambridge and Court Streets in 1795...

, near the site of Yale's birth. Yale president Arthur Twining Hadley
Arthur Twining Hadley
Arthur Twining Hadley was an economist who served as President of Yale University from 1899 to 1921.-Biography:...

 penned the inscription, which reads: "On Pemberton Hill, 255 Feet North of This Spot, Was Born on April Fifth 1649 Elihu Yale, Governor of Madras, Whose Permanent Memorial in His Native Land is the College That Bears His Name."

In her article for Atlantic Monthly about Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones is an undergraduate senior or secret society at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. It is a traditional peer society to Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head, as the three senior class 'landed societies' at Yale....

, Alexandra Robbins
Alexandra Robbins
Alexandra Robbins is a journalist, lecturer, and author. Her books focus on young adults, education, and modern college life and its aspects that are often overlooked or ignored by college administrators...

 alleges that the gravestone of Elihu Yale was stolen years ago from its proper setting in Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...

, and is displayed in a glass case, in a room with purple walls, which belongs to a building called the Tomb of the Skull and Bones at Yale University.

In 1999, American Heritage
American Heritage (magazine)
American Heritage is a quarterly magazine dedicated to covering the history of the United States for a mainstream readership. Until 2007, the magazine was published by Forbes. Since that time, Edwin S...

magazine rated Elihu Yale the "most overrated philanthropist" in American history, arguing that the college that would later bear his name (Yale University) was successful largely because of the generosity of a man named Jeremiah Dummer
Jeremiah Dummer
Jeremiah Dummer was an important colonial figure for New England in the early 18th century. His most significant contributions to American history were his A Defense of the New England Charters and his role in the formation of Yale College.-Background and early life:Jeremiah Dummer's family...

, but that the trustees of the school did not want it known by the name "Dummer College".

On April 5, 1999, Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 recognized the 350th anniversary of his birthday.

Cultural references

  • Elihu
    Elihu (secret society)
    Elihu, founded in 1903, is the sixth oldest secret society at Yale University, New Haven, CT. While similar to Skull and Bones, Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head societies in charter and function, Elihu favors privacy over overt secrecy...

    later became the name of a "senior society
    Secret society
    A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...

    " founded in 1903 at Yale.
  • Tom Wolfe
    Tom Wolfe
    Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...

    , who earned a Ph.D. in American Studies
    American studies
    American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the study of the United States. It traditionally incorporates the study of history, literature, and critical theory, but also includes fields as diverse as law, art, the media, film, religious studies, urban...

     from Yale, named the African-American Atlanta police chief in A Man in Full
    A Man in Full
    A Man in Full is a novel by Tom Wolfe, published in 1998 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. It is set primarily in Atlanta.-Summary:As with Wolfe's other novels, A Man In Full features a number of point-of-view characters...

    Elihu Yale.
  • Yale College
    Yale College Wrexham
    Yale College of Wrexham is a further education college in Wrexham, northeast Wales.-History:The history of Yale College can be summarised in three phases: Yale Grammar and Technical School, Yale Sixth Form, Yale College...

    , a college in Wrexham
    Wrexham
    Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...

    , is also named after Elihu Yale.
  • Elihu Yale is the name given to a JD Wetherspoons Public House
    Public house
    A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

     in the town of Wrexham
    Wrexham
    Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...

    .
  • Theodore Roosevelt
    Theodore Roosevelt
    Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...

    's son Quentin
    Quentin Roosevelt
    Quentin Roosevelt was the youngest and favorite son of President Theodore Roosevelt. Family and friends agreed that Quentin had many of his father's positive qualities and few of the negative ones. Inspired by his father and siblings, he joined the United States Army Air Service where he became a...

     kept a Hyacinth macaw
    Hyacinth Macaw
    The Hyacinth Macaw , or Hyacinthine Macaw, is a parrot native to central and eastern South America. With a length of about 100 cm it is longer than any other species of parrot...

     named Eli Yale.
  • A Yale University student or alumnus is known informally as either an Eli or a Yalie.

External links

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