Florence Cook (medium)

Katie King, Florence Cook and Sir William Crookes

Florence Eliza Cook (ca 1856 – 22 April 1904) was a medium who claimed to materialise a spirit, "Katie King". The question of whether the spirit was real or a fraud was a notable public controversy of the mid-1870s. Her abilities were endorsed by Sir William Crookes but many observers were skeptical of Crookes's investigations, both at the time and subsequently.