Gerald Yorke

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Gerald Yorke
Personal information
Full name
Gerald Joseph Yorke
Born(1901-12-10)10 December 1901
Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England
Died29 April 1983(1983-04-29) (aged 81)
Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England
RelationsVW Yorke (father)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1925Gloucestershire
Only First-class27 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

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 the family home, Forthampton Court, near

Cambridge University, where he gained a first class degree in history Bachelor of Arts. On leaving university, an interest in the occult and mysticism led him to contact Aleister Crowley, with whom he was closely associated for four years. Yorke was also a member of Crowley's magical order the A∴A∴, and supervised a number of neophyte
members.

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
.

In September 1932 Yorke left England for China, where he travelled extensively reporting for

School of Oriental and African Studies
at London University.

Returning to England he took a managerial position with the family firm, Pontifex & Co., brewing and sanitary engineers. He married Angela Vivien Duncan, elder daughter of Major General Sir John Duncan, and the pair had three children: John Sarne, Vincent James and Michael Piers.

Thirteenth Dalai Lama (died 1933) and the author of an original foreword to a secret book on the Kalachakra initiation.[6]

Although no longer a practising occultist, Yorke retained a strong interest in the subject, particularly in the work of Aleister Crowley. Towards the end of Crowley's life Yorke was known as his chief disciple and during this period and after Crowley's death, Yorke assembled an important collection of relevant books and documents which he bequeathed to the Warburg Institute of the University of London.

In his late fifties, Yorke became increasingly immersed in the study and practice of Buddhism, served on the council of the

Reading University. Yorke died in his eighty-second year after a short illness. [7]

Cricket

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.

Publications

  • Yorke, Gerald (1936). China Changes. New York: C. Scribnerʼs Sons.
  • Yorke, Gerald (1951). "Bibliography of the works of Aleister Crowley". In Symonds, John (ed.). The Great Beast: the Life of Aleister Crowley.
  • Yorke, Gerald (1991). Bibliography of the works of Aleister Crowley. Black Lodge Pub.
  • Yorke, Gerald (2011). Richmond, Keith (ed.). Aleister Crowley, the Golden Dawn and Buddhism: Reminiscences and Writings of Gerald Yorke. Teitan Press. Includes "A Reminiscence" by Timothy d'Arch Smith; "The Yorke Bibliography of Aleister Crowley" revised by Clive Harper; and "Some Memories and an Interview " by David Tibet.

References

  1. ^ "A Reporter Observes China's Changes". The New York Times Book Review. Vol. 1. 1936. p. 37. 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. ^ "[untitled]". 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. ^ a b Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage. Vol. 2 (107th ed.). Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd. p. 1778.
  4. ^ "No. 32739". The London Gazette. 18 August 1922. p. 6098.
  5. ^ Jones, Gareth. "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. ISBN 0-87728-919-0
    .
  7. ^ Richmond, Keith, ed. (2011). Aleister Crowley, The Golden Dawn and Buddhism Reminiscences and Writings of Gerald Yorke. York Beach, Maine: The Teitan Press. (inside front jacket flap).

External links

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