Yates

Yates

The surname Yates is generally accepted as either an occupational or locality surname.

The surname Yates is most abundant in Lancashire and Derbyshire and is also found in the English counties of Buckinghanshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire.

Whilst Yates is a broadly used and accepted English spelling, other variants and derivatives include: Yeats, Yeates, Yetts, Yeatman, Yetman, Yateman, Yatman, Eytman and Eatman, with Yett and Yeats being particularly prevalent in Scotland

Meaning

There are a number of different lines of thought on the origin of the name

Yates as a occupational name used for gatekeepers, from Old English "geat" - meaning gate which became yate in Middle English. This occupational surname reflected a time when many english roads were privately owned and land owners employed peasants to collect tolls from travellers wishing to pass through their extensive farms.The gatekeeper at a castle or manor was a trusted servant. Yates(s) can be found in medievel records in the form of "atte Yate", and "de lat Yate". The prepositions were appended to signify the dwelling place or occupation of the name bearer.
Yates as a patronymic form of locality name - Yate, a Gloucestershire township, the taking of the name Yates and would indicate that the original bearer of the surname probably came from here in early times - ie "dweller of Yate". Early references to the placename Yate date back to the eleventh century where Yate is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. Yate, along with Henbury, Redwick and Stoke were part of the same manor in Brentry Hundred. "In them are nine ploughs in lordship; twenty seven villagers and twenty two smallholders with twenty six ploughs. Twenty male and two female slaves and twenty freedmen with ten ploughs. A mill at 20d".</p>\n\n<p>
An alternative interpretation of the locality model exists in the south-west of England, where the term "geat" was used to indicated a gap or pass in a chain of hills, hence came the origin of the place named "Yetminster", in Dorsetshire. Any number of persons living in the vicinity may have adopted "Geats" or other derivatives such as "Geatmann" as a surname, simply signifying "dweller by the gap/pass" or "man living near the pass/gap".

Notations in History

The name appears throughout the centuries and throughout England. The variations and differences in spelling differences continued until the 19th century, however the split between Yates and Yateman had occurred by the 14th century..

Some early instances of the surname include Phillip Del Yate who was mentioned in the "Assize Rolls" for Cheshire in 1260.
A William Gateman is recorded in the Sussex Parish Subsidy Rolls as living in Worchestershire in year 1296.
In 1307, there are refernces to a Richard Yateman living at the Manor of Hales, and there is a John atte Yete who was recorded in the "Subsidy Rolls" for Somerset in 1327.
A J Yateman is recorded as residing in Devonshire in 1332, with a William atte Yate recorded in Somerset between 1327 and 1377 and an Adam atte Yate recorded in the Yorkshire Poll Tax in 1379.
In the "London Commercial and Court Directory" of 1870 there are thirty-seven instances of the surname. Variants of the surname include Yeats, Yeates and Yate.
A notable bearer of the surname Yeats was William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), the famous poet who was also a Nobel Prize winner

Coat of Arms

There are a number of different Coats of arms registered for the surname Yates. Where it is known the family and original grantee is noted. It is interesting to not that all the arms appear to contain gates:

			ARMS	CREST	MOTTO
Yates			Per fess embattled argent and sable three gates counterchanged. (On a shield divided by a horizontal embattled line, the top half silver and the bottom half black, three gates, each the color of the opposite half).	A demi Lion rampant azure. (The top half of a standing blue lion)
Yate	Buckland, co. Berks, England		Argent (silver), a fess embattled between three gates Sable (black).	Out of a ducal coronet Or (gold), a goat's head Sable (black), attired and tufted gold.
Yate			Argent (silver), a fess embattled between three gates Sable (black).	A horse\'s head Gules (red).
Yate	Buckland, Berkshire, England	Baronet, which became extinct in 1690; Edward Yate, Esq., of Buckland, was so created in 1622; Sir John Yate - the fourth baronet died unmarried.	Per pale embattled Argent (silver) and Sable (black), three field gates counterchanged.	None
Yate	Hynton, Berkshire, and Bentlott, Oxford;	John Yate, of Hynton, and Francis Yate, of Bentlott, sons of Andrew Yate, of Hynton, who was son of John Yate, of Charney, Lord of Lynford, Berkshire, and grandson of Richard Yate, of Charney, Berkshire. Visitation Oxon, 1574	Per fess embattled Or (gold) and Gules (red), three gates counterchanged, quartering, Gules (red), a chevron vair between three crescents Ermine, for Goddard	Out of a ducal coronet Or (gold), a buck\'s head Sable (black), attired Argent (silver)
Yate	Stanlake, co. Oxford, England	James Yate, Esq., of Stanlake, grandson of John Yate, Esq., of same place, eldest son of Edmund Yate, Esq., of same place, temp. Edward IV., who was great-grandson of William ate, gentleman, of Charney, Berkshire.Visitation Oxon, 1574.	Per fess Sable (black) and Argent (silver), on a fess embattled counter-embattled between three gates as many goats\' heads erased all counterchanged.	None
Yate	Witney, co. Oxford, England	Thomas Yate, Esq., of Witney, temp. Queen Elizabeth, son of Leonard Yate, of same place, who was second son of Edmund Yate, Esq., of Stanlake, temp. Edward IV. Vistiation Oxon, 1574	Per fess Sable (black) and Argent (silver), on a fess embattled counter-embattled between three gates as many goats\' heads erased all counterchanged, a crescent for difference.	Non
Yate	Oxford, England		Per fess crenellee Or (gold) and Gules (red), three gates and as many crescents counterchanged.	Non
Yate	Chaddesley-Corbett and Harvington, co. Worcester, England		Argent (silver), a fess embattled between three gates Sable (black)
Yate	Wotton Waven, co. Warwick, England	Confirmed by the Deputies of Camden, Clarenceux, to Thomas Yate, of that place, grandson of Richard Yate, of Buckland, Berkshire	Per fess embattled Or (gold) and Gules (red), three gates counterchanged	Out of a ducal coronet Or (gold), a goat\'s head Sable (black), armed Argent (silver)
Yate	Arlington and Crepingham, co. Gloucester, England		Azure (blue), a fess Or (gold), in chief two mullets of the second (i.e., gold)
Yate	Uppham, co. Wilts, England		Per fess Sable (black) and Argent (silver), on a fess embattled between three gates as many goats\' heads erased all counterchanged.	A demi goat rampant per pale Sable (black) and Argent (silver), attired counterchanged, holding between the legs a gate Or (gold).
Yate	Bromesberrow, co. Gloucester, England	John Yate, son of Robert Yate, Esq., of Dursley, m. Margaret, dau. and co-heir of John Berkeley, son of Sir Robert Berkeley, of Arlingham, in the same co.; his descendant, Walter Yate, of Hook House, in the parish of Bromesberrow, d.s.p. 1744, and was s. by his great-nephew, Robert Dobyns, Esq., of Evesbatch, co. Hereford, grandson of Robert Dobyns, and his wife, Catherine Yate, who in consequence assumed the surname and arms of Yate, by Act of Parliament, 1759; his son left at his decease 1785, a son, Walter Honeywood Yate, Esq., of Bromesberrow, and a dau. Caroline Elizabeth, m. Richard Donovan, Esq., of Tibberton Court, a descendant of Donovan, of Ballymore, co. Wexford, and had an only child, Caroline Anne Donovan, m. James Scott, Esq., Capt. R.N.	Quarterly, 1st and 4th, Azure (blue), a fess and in chief two mullets Or (gold), for Yate; 2nd and 3rd, Azure (blue), a chevron between three annulets Or (gold), for Dobyns.	1st - An elephant\'s head Argent (silver), tusked Or (gold); 2nd - A falcon volant Or (gold).	Quo virtus vocat, for Yate; Quod pudet hoc pigeat.
Yates	Stanford and Lyford, Berkshire, cos. Buckingham, Oxford, Wiltshire and Worcester, England.	Per fess embattled Argent (silver) and Sable (black), three gates counterchanged.
Yates			Per fess embattled Argent (silver) and Sable (black), three gates counterchanged.	A demi lion rampant, Azure (blue)
Yates	Streetyate, afterwards of Peel Hall, or Wicheeves, Lancaster		Per fess Sable (black) and Argnet (silver), on a fess embattled counter-embattled between three gates as many goats\' heads erased, all counterchanged	Out of a ducal coronet Or (gold), a goat\'s head Sable (black), armed gold.	Legale Judicium Parium (over the crest) The legal judgement of my peers
Yates	Holm Cot, Devon, England		Azure (blue), on a fesse between two gates in chief Or (gold), and as many swords saltireways in base Proper (natural color), three goats\' heads erased Sable (black).	A goat\'s head erased Argent (silver), guttee de larmes, pierced through the neck fesswise with a sword point to the dexter Proper (natural color).	Pro rege et patriâ. For our king and country
Park-Yates			Per fess nebulee Argent (silver) and Gules (red), a goat\'s head couped between three gates all counterchanged.	A goat\'s head couped Argent (silver), crusily Gules (red), in the mouth a cinquefoil slipped Vert (green)
Yates	Bryanstone Square, London	John Ashton Yates, Esq., of Bryanstone Square, London, England.	Per pale Or (gold) and Azure (blue), a fess dancettee between three gates counterchanged.	A demi antelope Or (gold), gorged with a collar dancettee Azure (blue), and holding between the legs a mullet pierced Sable (black).	Sit Quarta Coeli
Yates			Azure (blue), on a fess Argent (silver), between three gates Or (gold), as many antelopes\' heads Proper (natural color).	An antelope\'s head Proper (natural color).
Yeates	Lifford, co. Donegal	Fun. Ent. Ulster\'s Office, 1675, Mary, dau. of John Yeates, of Lifford	Per fess embattled Argent and Sable three gates counterchanged
Yeates or Yeats			Per fess embattled Argent (silver) and Sable (black) three gates counterchanged.	A lion\'s head erased Argent (silver).
Ernest Bentley Shaw-Yates, Esq.,	Oakwood Hall, York, England	Born in 1870, Ernest was the eldest son of the late Robert Bentley Shaw-Yates, Esq., of Oakwood Grange, by Elizabeth Ellen, only child of James Yates of Oakwood Hall, and grandson of the late Bentley Shaw of Woodfield, York, England.	Argent (silver), on a chevron engrailed Erminois, between two goats\' heads erased in chief Argent (silver), and a goat in base of the last (i.e., silver), three pellets. Azure (blue), on a chevron engrailed Erminois, between two goats\' heads erased in chief Argent (silver), armed Or (gold), and a gate in base of the last three pellets quartering Shaw, of Ardersley, and Lancaster, of Richmond.(2) MANTLING - Azure (blue) and Or (gold).	A mount Vert (green), a goat\'s head erased Argent (sivler), armed Or (gold), charged on the neck with a pellet, and surmounting two branches of oak in saltire Proper (natural color), fructed Or (gold).