Prospect Farm
The Original Prospect Farmstead
The Yardleys are supposed to have come into England with William the
Conqueror, but the name is not met with until 1215, when William Yardley
appears as a witness at the signing of Magna Charta. From that date all
trace of the name is lost until 1400, and after that, the trace is
complete. The first immigrant of the name to come to America was William
Yardley, of Lansclough, Staffordshire, who, with wife Jane, sons Enoch,
William and Thomas, and servant Andrew Heath, arrived at the Falls,
Bucks county, September 28, 1682. He located 500 acres on the west bank of
the Delaware covering the site of Yardley, Lower Makefield Township. The
homestead was called "Prospect Farm," a name it still retains. The warrant was dated October 6,
1682, and the patent January 23, 1687. William Yardley, born, 1632, and a
minister among Friends at twenty-five, was several times imprisoned. From
the first he took a prominent part in the affairs of the infant colony. He
signed the Great Charter, represented Bucks County in the first Assembly,
and was a member of the Executive Council. He was an uncle of Phineas
Pemberton, one of Penn's most trusted friends and counselors, but in the
midst of his usefulness, William Yardley wrote to him, about the time of
his death: "He was a man of sound mind and good understanding." William
Yardley and his family being dead, his property in America reverted to his
heirs in England, his brother Thomas and nephews, Thomas and Samuel, sons
of Thomas. In 1694, Thomas, the younger son, came over with power of
attorney to settle the estate. "Prospect Farm" became his property by
purchase, and he settled in Lower Makefield, spending his life here. [1]
- Davis, W.W.H., The History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Doylestown PA, Democrat Book and Job Office Print., 1905
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
Dolington Road
