Walter Yonge (died 1649)
Walter Yonge (1579–1649) of Great House, Colyton, Devon, was a lawyer, merchant and diarist.
He was the eldest son of John II Yonge and his wife Alice Stere. His grandfather was John I Yonge of Axminster, Devon, and his great-grandfather was Walter I Yonge of Bossington, Berkshire, who settled in Devon and bought lands there.
Yonge studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, and was called to the bar at Middle Temple. In 1628 he served as Sheriff of Devon. As a merchant he invested in the Dorchester Company, which aimed to fish and settle in New England.
He sat as Member of Parliament for Honiton in the Long Parliament from 1640, but did not sit after Pride’s Purge in December 1648. From 1642 to 1648 he was one of the victuallers of the Navy.
He married Jane Periam, daughter of Sir John Peryam and Elizabeth Hone. They had two sons and one daughter.
Yonge is best remembered as an author. His diaries from 1604–1627 and 1642–1645 are important historical sources. Four volumes are in the British Library. They were published in Britain in the 19th century by the Camden Society, and the full text is available online at archive.org.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 20:08 (CET).