Herbert Yelland was born at Point Macleay in South Australia on 27 February 1878.[1] The son of a farmer, he was educated at Roseworthy Agricultural College, and in 1899 started working for the South Australian education department. By 1901 he had emigrated to Western Australia and was working as a schoolmaster at Midland. In 1904 he took up a position of Clerk in the Lands Department, remaining there until 1911. In 1905 he married Rose Franklin; they had two sons and one daughter. Yelland resigned his job in 1911 and took up land in the Bruce Rock district, becoming one of the district's pioneer farmers.
^"Herbert John Yelland". Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 17 September 2018.