THE remarkable character of Elihu Yale is one of Wrexham's most famous sons but how much do we really know about the man who gave his name to one of the world's most famous universities?

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1649, Yale's ancestry can be traced back to the family estate at Plas yn Iâl near the village of Llandegla, Denbighshire. The family's connection with Wrexham began in the late 16th century when Elihu's great grandfather Dr David Yale bought the Plas Grono estate, which is now part of the Erddig estate. After he entered the service of the East India Company as a clerk, he worked his way up through the company to the post of Governor of Fort St George at Madras, which is where Wrexham-based author David Ebsworth comes in.

"The book comes from a chance meeting with our local Wrexham MP Ian Lucas, who asked me if I'd ever thought of writing a story about our local historical celebrity, Elihu Yale," explains David, who began writing writing historical fiction in 2009 after retiring from his job as a negotiator for the Transport and General Worker's Union.

"Yale has a very fine and famous tomb in the grounds of St Giles Parish Church and is taught to Wrexham school kids as the philanthropist who bequeathed some of his wealth, and his name, to help found one of the world's most famous universities, in New Haven, Connecticut.

"But I knew enough about Yale to understand that, while he may have been the original nabob, he also made much of his wealth through the Indian slave trade - and thus he didn't interest me much as a protagonist for a novel. But life's never that simple and, out of respect for Ian's own interest, I decided to dig a bit deeper."

After leaving India a wealthy man, Yale spent his time at Plas Grono and in London and secured his place in history in 1718 when he made his famous gift of "nine bales of goods together with 417 books and a portrait of King George I ", which were sold to raise money for the development of a small college in America. The college changed its name in recognition of Yale's gift and went on to become one of the most famous and prestigious universities in the world.

For David though it was the time Yale spent in India which really interested him, especially after he found out more about Catherine Hynmers, who the merchant married in 1680.

"It's a curious thing, writing historical fiction," says David, whose real name is Dave McCall. "There is definitely an element of karma about it at times and this was no exception, for I almost immediately, and almost by accident, stumbled on a copy of Elihu Yale's will, sent to me from the National Archives. It turned out to be a remarkable document due to this one entry, a single line: 'To My Wicked Wife...' And then? Nothing. No bequest. Not even her name. Simply a large blank space."

As president of Fort St George, Yale faced many accusations of corruption after he purchased territory for private purposes with East India Company funds, including a fort at Tevnapatam. He also imposed high taxes for the maintenance of the colonial garrison and town, resulting in an unpopular regime and several revolts by Indians, brutally quelled by garrison soldiers. He was also notorious for arresting and trying Indians on his own private authority, including the hanging of a stable boy who had absconded with a Company horse. As for his marriage, Catherine Hynmer was already a widow with four children, but she also brought Yale a fortune, along with four more children, three daughters and a son who died shortly after birth. His wife returned to England in 1689 and that was effectively the end of the marriage.

"In the biographies of Elihu, Catherine gets barely a mention, and whenever she's mentioned the facts are invariably wrong," says David. "It took me a long time to piece together her story so that I think I now know all there is to know about Mistress Yale and, while I can't be entirely certain why Elihu chose to brand her his "wicked wife", I'm pretty certain we're close to the truth. Enough, at least, to convince me that Ian Lucas might be right, and that Elihu Yale's story might indeed be worth telling!"

David has now turned the turbulent story of Elihu and Catherine's 50 years together into his seventh novel, The Doubtful Diaries of Wicked Mistress Yale, which will be the first on a trilogy about the life of Yale and told through the eyes of his much-maligned and largely forgotten wife.

"A lot of the story is pure fiction but all Catherine's family background is authentic," he says. "I like to write historical fiction in a particular way and to bring some lesser-known but important periods and incidents to a wider public. In this case the story of Yale but a very different story from the one we think we know. Yale the Indian slave trader. Yale the philanderer. Yale the usurer."

David's previous works have dealt with various historical periods and subjects from the Battle of Waterloo to the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War and sixth century Britain, with each receiving critical acclaim from the Historical Novel Society.

"The novel is now available thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign in which readers were able to pre-order copies," explains David. "It's exactly how writers like John Milton and Mark Twain, plus countless other authors who had to fund their own books, always worked.

"Apart from raising the publishing costs, crowdfunding for authors like me has another serious advantage in that it's great to have people invest in the book by ordering copies in advance, because it proves that there's real interest in the story. And, just like the subscription books of old, those who help to see it published get the recognition they deserve by having their names listed in the acknowledgement sections of the book itself."

The second novel in David's trilogy, Wicked Mistress Yale, The Glorious Return, is due for publication in late-autumn 2019, and will pick up Catherine's story with her return to a London turned upside down in 1689, while the third part, Wicked Mistress Yale, The Parting Glass, is scheduled for release in mid-2020.

"Elihu Yale may have gifted a great deal to his home on the Welsh Marches, and bequeathed his name to one of the world's most famous universities, yet to poor Catherine he left nothing but the slur of branding her a wicked wife," he adds.

David will signing copies of The Doubtful Diaries of Wicked Mistress Yale at Wrexham Waterstones at 6pm today (April 4).