Florence Cook, known as “Florrie” to close friends and family members, was born on July 3, 1856, in Hackney, a section of East London populated at that time mainly by respectable working class families. Given to bouts of ill health throughout most of her childhood, Florence had, by the time she reached her middle teens, developed into what one contemporary account described as “a beautiful young woman, with expressive dark eyes, a full, expressive mouth, and a gentle, deferential manner designed to make a stranger, especially one of the male persuasion, feel at ease in her presence.”

To modern eyes, however, and knowing what we now know or believe we know about Miss Cook, the photograph to the right, taken when she was around 17, seems to radiate artifice and the subtle confidence bordering on diffidence that is characteristic of a highly skilled, professional con woman..

read more Paranormal Casebook: Florence Cook, Medium at Large – Paranormal 360.