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John Yarker

English occultist (1833–1913)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ329113
Source-derived summary

John Yarker (17 April 1833 – 20 March 1913) was an English Freemason, author, and occultist. He was born in Swindale, Shap, Westmorland, in the north of England. He moved with his parents to Lancashire and on to Manchester in 1849. Ηe was descended from Reinhold Yarker de Laybourne who lived in the mid 17th century.

Biography

He was made a Freemason of the United Grand Lodge of England at the age of 21 in the Lodge of Integrity, No. 189, Manchester, on 25 October 1854, becoming a Master Mason at the beginning of 1855. Seven years later, in 1862, he demitted (resigned) from Freemasonry.

In 1872 Yarker established the Sovereign Sanctuary of the Ancient and Primitive Rite of Masonry for England and Ireland under the authority of a Patent issued by the American Grand Master of that organization, Harry Seymour. As well as establishing the Ancient and Primitive Rite, Yarker would later become Deputy International Grand Master (1900) and International Grand Master (1902) of the Rite of Memphis-Misraim, succeeding to Giuseppe Garibaldi.

He died in Withington, Lancashire.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “John Yarker” as english occultist (1833–1913). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around John, Yarker and English.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1833, 1913, 1849, 1854—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1833-04-17. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with John, Yarker and English providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “John Yarker”, the useful work is to connect “english occultist (1833–1913)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q329113. VIAF identifies the subject as 24251353. The Library of Congress control number is no2001053311. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1833, 1913, 1849 and 1854.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from John Yarker” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.