William Francis Yardley (January 8, 1844 – May 20, 1924) was an American attorney, politician and civil rights advocate, operating primarily out of Knoxville, Tennessee, in the late 19th century.

[3] In Tennessee's gubernatorial election of 1876, Yardley ran as an independent after the state's Republicans decided not to oppose Democrat James D. Porter.

[1] He was complimented for his oratorical abilities by numerous newspapers,[1] but attacked by others, such as the Knoxville Tribune, which called him an "egotistical darky who practices law when he is sober enough and not engaged in doing the dirty work for the Republican machine.

[6] In 1885, he is believed to have become the first African American attorney to appear before the Tennessee Supreme Court when he argued against a practice that required jail inmates to work to pay for the costs of their prosecution.

[3] In October 1919, Yardley served on the defense team in the high-profile trial of local mulatto Maurice Mays, who had been accused of murdering a white woman.