Interior of St Andrew's 18 century
I am frequently adding to the stories of individual family members
so do come back another time and check the tabs on the left. The latest update was 18th February 2022 when an article "A Missionary" was added. Now for the story of the Family.
Ian Yonge
iyonge@legalisp.net
The
Yonge's of Puslinch, Newton Ferrers, Devon
The Yonge's of Puslinch in the parish of Newton Ferrers Devon, near Plymouth, England is the family this website covers. The family had become established at Puslinch where James Yonge 1679-1745 married Mary Upton the last survivor
of the Upton's of Puslinch. This marriage was a symbol of and the cause of the family's rise to the world of English gentry.
This James Yonge was the son of Dr James Yonge a noted Plymouth surgeon and doctor of his day who wrote a fascinating journal about his life which was published some 60 years ago.
Members of the family still live in the area and the Puslinch branch is treated
as the senior branch of the family now although the family is spread all over the English speaking world in The United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The earliest member of the family who can be identified with certainty is John Yonge who was born early in the 17th century and who married Joanna Blackaller
from a local Dartmouth family, in Dartmouth in 1640.
It
is probable that the family prior to then had been of humble origins and so will be impossible to trace back further. Where the family came from is the great quest of my continuing research. For more information on the current state of this quest (March 2020)
click on the tab on the left of the Home Page under “FAMIY ORIGINS”
There are four other distinct unconnected families with the name "Yonge" namely:
1) Of Caynton Manor Egmond near Newport Shropshire.
2) Of Charnes Hall Staffordshire.
3) Of Sturminster Newton Abbot Dorset and Colebrook, Devon known to go back to the 1530`s. 18th century accounts which refer to the family coming from Colebroke are incorrect. This is a mistake.
4) Of Colyton, Devon. They are first recoded in in Bristol first reference is in the mid 14th century when
the family were well established Bristol merchants. Then they moved to London and Basildon in Berkshire, then to Colyton in Devon and other places such as Axminster and Upton Hellions. Several published works (including the unreliable Burkes Landed Gentry)
and derivative internet sources state that the Puslinch Yonge's and the Colyton Yonge's are connected. This is a complete fallacy. Repetition does not make it correct!
The American Yonge's of the 18th century south and Florida are not connected
Two biographies of Charlotte Yonge refer to a family tradition that a Yonge left Norfolk for the more remote West Country to avoid paying for a knighthood
being forced on him by James 1st. There is however no evidence to support this.
YONGE which is pronounced as “young” is simply one of the old English spellings of the adjective "young". The details are not clear but it seems that in the 17th century a family row concerning religion led to one
brother adopting the spelling "Young" or depending which version you believe another brother adopting the spelling "Yonge". The “Young” branch has now died out on the male line.
Some of the "Youngs" became noted Royal Navys in the great age of sail. One in the late 18th century received £40,000 prize
money from the capture of a Spanish treasure ship.
The
family have never been rich or famous, with some exceptions, but is typical of many country gentry families, living a comfortable life and sending their sons into the professions and the four corners of the Empire and marrying their daughters into similarly
placed local gentry families.
Though marriage the family
became connected with many West Country families such as the Fortescue, Upton, Mudge, Colborne and Duke which last is still a popular Christian name in the family. In Australia several family members have adopted the surname “Duke-Yonge”.
Over many years through research at the National Archives
in Kew, The British Library the Society of Genealogists, many county record officers especially the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office and “Ancestry” and “Find My Past” , I have amassed a large volume of documents, letters,
photographs and other records.
Large in the number of
names and space it takes up, it measures some 30cm by 63cm family tree has been compiled. It has not been included in this website.
Accompanying the tree are brief biographical notes of many of the family members over the years for family history should be more than just a list of names. Each individual lives
in their own time and their lives are a reflection of those times and in turn influence those times.
The tab “BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES” contains these brief biographical notes but only of deceased family members. Other tabs contain fuller biographies of some of the more interesting characters from the family
story.
Over the past 400 years this family has
seen and participated in many historical events and witnessed massive social changes. This continuing saga has now passed to the current generation .
If you have any questions or information, original documents or photos which will add to the story of this family, I would love to hear from you..
Ian Yonge
March 2020
Email iyonge@legalisp.net
CIRCUMSTANCE
By
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Two children in two neighbouring villages
Playing their pranks along the healthy leas
Two strangers meeting at a festival
Two lovers whispering by a garden wall
Two lives bound fast in one with golden ease
Two
graves grass green beside a grey church tower
Washed with still rains and daisy blosommed
Two children in one hamlet born and bred
So runs the round of life from hour
to hour