Language English Parents Simon Yorke Spouse Diana Wynne (m. 1782) | Role Author Name Philip Yorke | |
Born 30 July 1743
"Erddig Hall," Denbighshire, Wales ( 1743-07-30 ) Genre Welsh genealogical history Notable works The Royal Tribes of Wales (1799) Children Simon Yorke (1771–1834)
Ethelred Yorke (1772–1796)
Elizabeth Yorke (1774–1795)
Philip Yorke (1775–1777)
John Yorke (1776–1792)
Brownlow Yorke (1777–1803)
Dorothy Yorke (1779–1846)
Diana Yorke (1783–1855)
Pierce Wynne-Yorke (1784–1837)
Lucy Margaret Yorke (1785–1863)
Robert Wynne-Yorke (1787–1854)
Philip Wynne-Yorke (1787–1858)
Charles Wynne-Yorke (1789–1853) Relatives Simon and Dorothy Yorke (parents); Philip Yorke, first earl of Hardwicke Died 1804, Erddig, Marchwiel, United Kingdom Education Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (1762–1765), Eton College People also search for Simon Yorke, Philip S Yorke, John Yorke | ||
Resting place Marchwiel, Denbighshire | ||
Philip Yorke (1743–1804) was an antiquary who developed an interest in Welsh history and genealogy relatively late in life. He was the author of The Royal Tribes of Wales (1799).
Contents
Background
The son of Simon Yorke (1696–1767) and Dorothy Hutton (1717–1787), he was born at Erddig, not far from Wrexham (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 and at Newcome's School in Hackney, he went to Eton College and subsequently in 1762 to Benet College, Cambridge, where he was awarded an MA degree in 1765. He proceeded to Lincoln's Inn in 1762 and was 'called to the bar' in 1767. He took delight in classical literature, and became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1768.
Marriages and career
In 1770, Philip married his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Cust, by whom he had two daughters and five sons. Through his wife's aid he became a member of Parliament, serving the borough of Helston, Cornwall, until 1781. Elizabeth died two years previously, in 1779.
In 1782, Philip married his second wife, the Welsh widow Diana (died 1805), who was a daughter of Piers Wynne of Dyffryn Aled, Llansannan. They had two daughters and four sons. Yorke later obtained a seat in Parliament for Grantham, but relinquished it after a year to his eldest son Simon (1792–93).
The 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).
Yorke died in 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:
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, offers a stern riposte to Polydore Vergil'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.
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.