Born the son of Colonel John Yorke and Juliana Yorke (née Dodd), Yorke was
commissioned as an
ensign in the
35th Regiment of Foot on 22 January 1808. Promoted to
lieutenant on 18 February 1808, he transferred to the
52nd Light Infantry and served with that Regiment in the
Peninsular War. he also fought at the
Battle of Orthez in February 1814, where he was again wounded. Yorke transferred to the
13th Regiment of Foot on 7 August 1817 and exchanged back to the 52nd Light Infantry on 2 July 1818. Promoted to
major in an unattached company on 9 June 1825, he became Inspecting Officer of Militia with the rank of
lieutenant colonel on 30 November 1826. Yorke became
Military Secretary in May 1854 (initially to
Viscount Hardinge and then to
the Duke of Cambridge) and, having been appointed
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 5 February 1856 and promoted to
lieutenant general on 13 February 1859, he retired from active service in June 1860. He was advanced to
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 29 June 1860 and appointed to a
Royal Commission established in March 1863 to examine whether there had been any departures from the measures put in place to reorganise the
Indian Army and merge it with the British Army following the
Indian Mutiny. Promoted to full
general on 5 September 1865, he was appointed
Constable of the Tower in April 1875, a post he took up in July 1875, before being promoted to
field marshal on 2 June 1877. Yorke was Colonel of the
Duke of Wellington's Regiment (1855–1863) and then of the 2nd Battalion, the
Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own). He died at South Street in
Mayfair on 20 November 1880 and was buried at
Kensal Green Cemetery. ==Family==