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The main textual source for the minhag of waiting three hours between eating meat and eating milk is Rabeinu Yerucham. However, it appears to many that the "ג" in there is actually a typo and it should be a "ו" as it does not match what he wrote in his other works, nor does it match his cited source (Rashi) for that waiting time.
Given this, my question is - excluding Rb. Yerucham, what is the earliest source that mentions a three hour time period?
The Mizmor LeDavid (Yoreh Deah 89:6) mentions a 3 hour wait. Its author, Rav David Pardo, lived from 1718-1790.
The Chayey Adam (127:10), first published in 1810, mentions a few hour wait. (Although he doesn't say exactly 3, his language would only be understood in halachah as describing 3-4 hours. He uses a plural that does not refer to a minimum of two. He also meant it as avoiding the stricter 5-6. So, he must have been referring to some custom of 3-4 hours.)
