Elihu Yale (1649-1721)

He was born at Boston, Massachusetts, but moved to London when he was just three years old and never stepped foot there again. In 1670, he began his career as a clerk with the East India Company at Fort St. George (Madras), and in 1684 became the first President of Fort St. George. In 1699, he returned to England with a fortune of some £200,000 (circa £6-billion in today's money) mostly made through selling diamonds. He lived between London and the house his great-grandfather (David Yale) built on his estate in Wales, Plas Grono. His principal residence in London was on Queen's Square but he owned three further houses to accommodate his vast art collection that included 7,000 paintings plus jewels, books, watches, etc. He married Catherine Elford whose father was a step-nephew of the famous explorer Sir Francis Drake. They had four children (listed) but none of their descendants survived past their grandchildren.

In January, 1718, the Rev. Cotton Mather put the idea to Yale that should he donate money towards a college at New Haven, it would bear his name. In March, Jeremiah Dummer wrote from London to Connecticut's Governor, Gurdon Saltonstall: “I am endeavoring to get you a present from Mr. Yale, for the finishing [sic] your College, of which I shall write you more particularly in a little time.” That September, goods to the value of £800 arrived including textiles, 417 books and a portrait of King George I by Godfrey Kneller. The textiles were sold to raise money for what was duly named Yale College, todays's Yale University. However, John Steele Gordon wrote in American Heritage that Dummer’s gift was in fact the generous one, but the trustees “looking over their collective shoulder at Harvard, could not quite bring themselves to name the college 'Dummer College'”.