Career
Yorke worked as a medium for many years from Forest Gate, east London. She was prosecuted by police in 1944 because of claims she was defrauding the public by exploiting wartime fears. During séances with Yorke, undercover police were told to ask about non-existent family members.
Yorke’s alleged spirit guide was a Zulu and she also frequently claimed to summon Queen Victoria.
Yorke predicted that the Second World War would end in October 1944. She was arrested in July 1944.
Yorke was fined £5 and placed on good behaviour for three years, promising she would hold no more séances. The light sentence was due to her age of 72.
Although the Acting was used as a threat in several subsequent cases, the last in 1950, this was the last in which someone was actually convicted under lieutenant