Family
Henry was born on 21 December 1806 at Alston, Cumberland, to parents Thomas and Mary. He was baptised on 25 January 1807 at Alston Independent Chapel.
He married Elizabeth Craig (b abt1811). Census returns identify six children.
- Mary (abt1831-1904) – married James sulked, a brick and tile maker, in 1855
- Thomas (1832-1870) – a commercial traveller for bacon factory (1861)
- Ezekiel (1838-1875) – a grocer’s assistant (1861)
- Isabella (1840-1922) – married Thomas Brandon, a sawyer & newsagent (1871), in 1868
- Henry (1843-1909) – a mechanic in iron foundry (1861); a grocer (1871)
- George (1846-1913) – a railway clerk (1861)
Henry died in 1878 at Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland.
Circuits
- 1842 Newcastle
- 1844 Alston
- 1845 Penrith
- 1846 Whitehaven
- 1848 Hexham
- 1850 Alloa
- 1852 Sunderland
- 1854 disappears
References
W Leary, Directory of Primitive Methodist Ministers and their Circuits, 1990
Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers
Note: Most records spell the surname “Yeats”
Comments about this page
Henry Yeats was my great-great-uncle. In 1855 he travelled to Thessaly, now in Greece but then part of the Ottoman Empire, where he was engaged in a lead-mining operation. He returned in 1863 by which time Elizabeth had died. In 1870 he published an account of his time in Thessaly – Eight Years in Thessaly but giving as author on his initials, H.Y. Copies are in the British Library, Newcastle Library and there is an electronic copy in Cambridge University Library. In 2009 we visited the area and found two of the lead mines, as well as making contact with local historians. There are very few accounts of the area at that period, so they were delighted to know of his book, and have translated it into Greek.
The book is listed on Amazon, but wrongly attributed to Sir Henry Yule.
Eight Years’ Residence of An Englishman in the Ottoman Empire;: More Particularly Descriptive of the Mountainous Districts, and the Manners and Customs of the People of Thessaly, in European Turkey
by H. Y and Sir Henry Yule | 1 Jan 1870
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