Gerald Yorke

Major Gerald Joseph Yorke (10 December 1901 – 29 April 1983) was an English soldier and writer. He was a Reuters correspondent while in China for two years in the 1930s, and wrote a book China Changes (1936).[1][2]

Life

Gerald Joseph Yorke was born in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, on 10 December 1901; the second son of Vincent Wodehouse Yorke and Hon. Maud Evelyn Wyndham.[3] He attended Eton College, and then Trinity College, Cambridge University, where he gained a Bachelor of Arts. He joined the Territorial Army and was commissioned in the 21st (Gloucestershire Hussars) Armoured Car Company, Tank Corps in 1922,[4] later gaining the rank of Major. He married Angela Vivien Duncan, and the pair had three children: John Sarne, Vincent James and Michael Piers.[3]

The travels of Yorke together with his manservant Li through often bandit-stricken areas were part of China Changes and also commented on by adventurer and Special Correspondent to The Times Peter Fleming in his One's Company, a travelogue of a journey to China in 1933.[5]

Back in Britain at Forthampton Yorke was also the personal representative to the West of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama (died 1933) and the author of an original foreword to a secret book on the Kalachakra initiation.[6] Yorke was also a member of the A∴A∴, the magical order established by Aleister Crowley (died 1947), and towards the end of Crowley's life was known as his chief disciple.

Bibliography

  • China Changes, New York, C. Scribnerʼs Sons, 1936.
  • Bibliography of the works of Aleister Crowley by Gerald Yorke. Mandrake Press, 1991.
  • Aleister Crowley, the Golden Dawn and Buddhism: reminiscences and writings of Gerald Yorke, ed. Keith Richmond, Teitan Press, 2011.
  • The Great Beast: the life of Aleister Crowley, by John Symonds with Gerald Yorke, 1951.

Cricket

Gerald Yorke
Personal information
Full name Gerald Joseph Yorke
Born (1901-12-10)10 December 1901
Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England
Died 29 April 1983(1983-04-29) (aged 81)
Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England
Relations VW Yorke (father)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1925 Gloucestershire
Only First-class 27 June 1925 Gloucestershire v Glamorgan
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 1
Runs scored 6
Batting average 3.00
100s/50s 0/0
Top score 6
Catches/stumpings 0/–
Source: CricketArchive, 10 January 2011

He was also a keen cricketer who made a single first-class appearance for Gloucestershire, against Glamorgan during the 1925 season. From the middle order, he scored a duck in the first innings in which he batted, and 6 runs in the second.

References

  1. ↑ The New York Times Book Review - Volume 1 1936 - Page 37 "A Reporter Observes China's Changes Mr. Yorke, a Reuters Correspondent, Spent Two Recent Years There come acquainted with the situation which was contributing to such a sweeping success of the invader. Some of the extraordinary ..."
  2. ↑ Now & Then: A Journal of Books and Personalities 1935 "This is what the Sunday Times said of Mr. Gerald Yorke's China Changes: This is a vital and absorbing book, which will give Western readers a far better understanding of the Chinese and their difficulties than many more pretentious volumes, .."
  3. 1 2 Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 2, page 1778.
  4. ↑ "No. 32739". The London Gazette. 18 August 1922. p. 6098.
  5. ↑ Gareth Jones (journalist) : JOURNEY FROM CANTON TO CHANGSHA "(see Peter Fleming's One’s Company for a description of Li and of Gerald and also of the journey I did, except that Fleming and Gerald came with his Chinese servant Li from Changsha to Canton while I did it from Canton to Changsha)."
  6. ↑ HYMENAEUS BETA, ed. (19 December 2001). "MAGICK LIBER ABA, Book Four – Parts I–IV" (PDF). Retrieved 10 January 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.