Elihu Yale

Elihu Yale, (April 5, 1649 – July 8, 1721), was the first benefactor of Yale University. His ancestry can be traced to a family of North Wales, and the name Yale is the English spelling of the Welsh place name, Iâl. He was a prominent governor of Madras, in British East India, amassed a fortune in his lifetime, and he was generous with the proceeds.

Life

Born in Boston to David Yale (1613-1690) and Ursula Knight (1624-1698). His grandmother, Ann Lloyd (1591-1659), was also the wife of the Governor Theophilus Eaton (1590-1657) of New Haven Colony by a second marriage after her first husband, Thomas Yale (1590-1619), suddenly died at Chester. Yale moved to England with his family when he was four, and never returned to North America.

Related Topics:
Boston - Governor Theophilus Eaton - New Haven Colony - Chester - England

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For 20 years, Yale was part of the British East India Company, and he became the second governor of a settlement at Madras (present-day city of Chennai) in 1687, after Streynsham Master. He was suspended from the post, however, in 1692 after arguments with his council and his superiors.

Related Topics:
British East India Company - Madras - Chennai - 1687 - Streynsham Master - 1692

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In 1718, Cotton Mather 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. Yale sent Mather a carton of goods that the school subsequently sold, earning them 560 pounds sterling, which was a substantial sum in the early 1700s. In gratitude, officials named the new building Yale; eventually the entire institution became Yale College.

Related Topics:
1718 - Cotton Mather - 1701 - New Haven - Pounds sterling - 1700s - Yale College

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