Walter Yonge (1579–1649) ofGreat House in the parish ofColyton in Devon, England, was a lawyer, merchant and diarist.

He was the eldest son and heir of John II Yonge (d. 1612) of Colyton by his wife Alice Stere. His grandfather was John I YongeofAxminster, Devon (who has been confused inVivian (1895) withJohn Young (died 1589) ofThe Great House,Bristol, Gloucestershire, MP forPlymouth in 1555.^[1]) His great-grandfather was Walter I Yonge (fl.tempore Henry VII (1485–1509) & Henry VIII (1509–1547)) of Bossington, Berkshire (sic^[2]), who having been the first of his family to settle in Devonshire purchased several estates in that county, including:

• Stuttecomb, in the parish ofAxmouth, purchased during the reign of Henry VIII (1509–1547) from SirPeter Carew (c. 1514 – 1575) ofMohuns Ottery, Devon.^[3]
• Buckland Trill, in the parish ofAxmouth, purchased from Sir Peter Carew.^[4]
• Batteshorn, in the parish ofHoniton (onemoiety), purchased from SirAmias Paulet^[5] (1532–1588) of Hinton St. George, Somerset.
• Cob Whimpell, in the parish ofWhimple, purchased from SirAmias Paulet^[6]

Yonge was educated atMagdalen College, Oxford, and wascalled to the bar fromMiddle Temple. In 1628 he wasSheriff of Devon. As a merchant he invested in theDorchester Company, a joint-stock company promoting fishing and colonisation inNew England. He was aMember of Parliament forHoniton, Devon, in theLong Parliament from 1640, but did not sit afterPride's Purge in December 1648. From 1642 to 1648 he was one of the victuallers of the Navy.

Yonge married Jane Periam, a daughter and co-heiress of SirJohn Peryam (1541 – c. 1618) ofExeter, Devon, MP four times (Barnstaple 1584, Bossiney 1586, Exeter 1589 and 1593) andMayor of Exeter,^[7] by his wife Elizabeth Hone, a daughter and co-heir of Robert Hone ofOttery.^[8] Jane's uncle was SirWilliam Peryam (1534 – 9 October 1604) ofLittle Fulford, nearCrediton in Devon,Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. By his wife he had two sons and one daughter as follows:

• Sir John Yonge, 1st Baronet (1603–1663), MP, of Colyton, eldest son and heir, who served alongside his father in the Long Parliament.
• Walter Yonge (1608–1667) of Ford, 2nd son, a lawyer at theInner Temple.^[9]
• Jane Young (1605–1666), died unmarried.^[10]

Yonge is now best remembered as an author: his well-known diaries (1604–1627 and 1642–1645) are valuable historical material, especially four volumes now in the British Library (Add MSS 18777–18780). These were published inBritain in the 19th century by theCamden Society. Full text on-line at archive.org[1].

• D. Brunton & D. H. Pennington,Members of the Long Parliament (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
• Yonge family
• Concise Dictionary of National Biography (1930)

• "Yonge, Walter" .Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
• Lansdowne and Halifax Tracts atUniversity College London (include material owned by Yonge)

• 1579 births
• 1649 deaths
• 17th-century English diarists
• 17th-century English merchants
• 17th-century English male writers
• Lawyers from Devon
• Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Honiton
• Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
• Members of the Middle Temple
• High sheriffs of Devon
• English MPs 1640–1648
• Lay members of the Westminster Assembly

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