Their estates in Wales were Plas-yn-Yale and Plas Grono, and Elihu's brother was London merchant Thomas Yale, later ambassador to the King of Siam for the East India Company.

[18] In 1674, Yale was sent to negotiate the potential establishment of a new factory, and by February, was allowed to deal in private trade, which included pearls, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, neckcloths, cloves and nutmegs.

[42] The company's chairman sent a letter to Yale, writing that "your elaborate arguments to persuade us not to impose a moderate duty upon the Portuguese and other inhabitants of our city of Madras, whom we do protect and exceedingly encourage in their several vocations, have no weight at all with us".

Gyfford, where they had refused to collect taxes, with the directors replying that "you are still fencing against our creating revenue at the Fort, with slight, insignificant arguments, wherein the worst is that you should have so mean an opinion of us, as to think such sophistical reasons will make any impressions on our judgment".

[50] The man behind the charges was a Greek named Constantine Phaulkon, who wanted to lower English's influence over King Narai, and get him closer to Louis XIV of France through Chevalier de Chaumont.

[47][50] This trading dispute started the Anglo-Siamese War, with Yale acting on behalf of King James II of England, which resulted in number of casualties for the company, as cities were now being robbed by Siameses.

[59] The situation was delicate as the Dutch and Louis XIV at Versailles were also trying to get the Mughal in their favor, and the directors would hold Yale responsible if anything went wrong, including failing to keep the Golconda diamonds trade from the Kollur Mines.

[62] By 1688, Sir Josiah Child, the Company's largest shareholder, retired with a fortune of about £200,000 (equivalent to £45.4 million in 2023),[2] and married his daughter to the son of the 1st Duke of Beaufort at Badminton House.

[73] Following the English Revolution of 1688, William of Orange, a Dutch, ascended to the throne of England, replacing James II, which was a fatal blow for Sir Josiah Child who had bet on the wrong side.

[74] He was then put on a secret committee with Sir John Child, governor of Bombay, and Nathaniel Higginson, mayor of Madras, to plan the establishment of a new fort near the South Seas, to engage in trade with China.

[85] After English merchants began to kidnap young children and deport them to distant parts of the world, the administration of Fort St George stepped in and introduced laws to curb the practice.

[88] Historian Joseph Yannielli writes that although Yale "probably did not own any of these people – the majority were held as the property of the East India Company – he certainly profited both directly and indirectly from their sale",[89] while the Sterling Professor David W. Blight suggests that Yale's personal ownership is "not a key question [...] some portion of [his] considerable fortune derived from his myriad entanglements with the purchase and sale of human beings" through his "key leadership role in the business of human trafficking".

[90] The events were as follow: In August 1689, two soldiers of Fort St. George stole guns, horses, and other items, and left Madras as fugitives with a group of five confederates to join the enemy's army during war time.

[91][90] The later years of Yale's governance was marked by serious conflicts between his Presidency and the council, coming from Thomas Gray, Sir Josiah Child's servant, and lawyer William Fraser, a man known for his violent temper.

[96] According to Madras historian Fanny Penny, the accusations were the same as with past governors, being the "old story of private trade, jealousy on the part of his fellow-merchants, and suspicion and distrust at home as his wealth accumulated".

[102] Ten months later, while still in prison, Yale's brother arrived in London in 1695, and reached directly to the King's Privy Council on 14 February at Kensington Palace, contesting the accusations.

[104][103] When the letter reached Madras ten months later on 8 January 1696, Yale was immediately offered a ship for Britain, but having already served the company for over 20 years, he decided to stay as Fraser was still on his case.

[106] In 1699, after a 30 years career in India, Yale decided to sail home, and was granted the usual privilege of past governors to bring back five tons of goods, which he filled with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, Chinawares, Persian carpets, nutmegs, and other items.

[115] During the War of the Spanish Succession, shipments would get stolen by pirates on their way to Europe, and once there, the Europeans princes and nobility would lack the funds to acquire them, forcing some merchants into bankruptcy.

[127][122] He lived most of his remaining years at the Plas Grono estate in Wales, next to Erddig Hall, inherited from the line of his great-grandfather, Chancellor David Yale, and at his London house in Queen Square.

[132][49] In the same year, Yale was asked by Newton to deal with the donations of Dr. Thomas Paget, and later received a new map of the Netherlands dedicated to him by John Senex, royal geographer of Queen Anne.

[148][149][150][151] Catherine Elford's maternal grandfather was merchant Richard Chambers, Alderman and Sheriff of the City of London, family of Sir Amyas Bampfylde of Poltimore House and Barrington Court.

[162] His tomb bears an inscription: Born in America, in Europe bred In Africa travell'd and in Asia wed Where long he liv'd and thriv'd; In London dead Much good, some ill, he did; so hope all's even And that his soul thro' mercy's gone to Heaven You that survive and read this tale, take care For this most certain exit to prepare Where blest in peace, the actions of the just Smell sweet and blossom in the silent dust.

[176] In his foreword to the report, Salovey wrote of the importance of the study as providing a "deeper, more honest understanding of who we are" and of helping in "coming to terms with injustices of the past and in confronting current wrongs".

In 2020 the artist Titus Kaphar produced a version of the painting, entitled "Enough About You", in which the main sitters are distorted beyond recognition and the image of the uncollared boy is set within a gold frame.

[185] Yale followed their lead and became a famous collector in London, with artists visiting him at his Queen Square home to secure patronage, one of which would be Vanderbank, who worked at Kensington Palace and Castle Howard.

[192] With a rising middle class in search of status symbols, he acquired watches and clocks from Thomas Tompion, father of English clockmaking, along with works of engineer Henry Winstanley.

[195] Other paintings included those of philosopher Thomas Hobbes, astronomer Pierre Gassendi, Sir John Wynn, and Jacques Courtois, previously patroned by Mattias de' Medici.

[199] It is thought that some of Yale's missing paintings are now at the Hermitage Museum in Russia, dating back from Catherine the Great's acquisition of the Walpole collection at Houghton Hall.

[205][208][210] They will submit to Edward Longshanks during the 13th century, with prince Gruffudd Fychan losing the lordship of Yale to the Earl of Surrey, William Wallace's rival at Sterling Bridge.