he was the son of david yeaman and catherine, "née" sanger. after schooling at dean close school, cheltenham, he was admitted a solicitor in 1911; having joined the gloucestershire regiment in 1914, he was commissioned into the royal field artillery and served in france from 1916 to 1918. on demobilisation, he became a partner at rickerbys of cheltenham. he served on the law society's council between 1936 and 1964 and was its vice-president (1956–57) and then president (1957–58), for which service he was knighted in 1958.