*Ø* Blogmanac February 28, 1874 | The bizarre Tichborne case
1874 Arthur Orton, the false claimant to the Tichborne fortune, was found guilty of perjury.
The Tichborne Case
So ended a celebrated English impersonation case. In March 1853 Roger Charles Tichborne, heir to the ancient Hampshire baronetcy, sailed for South America. On April 20 he departed from there on the Bella for Jamaica. The ship sank, and Tichborne was not heard of again. In October 1865 ‘RC Tichborne’ showed up in Wagga Wagga, Australia, in the person of a man known locally as Tom Castro.
On Christmas Day 1866, Tichborne/Castro landed in England where he claimed the baronetcy. The real Roger's mother, Dowager Lady Henriette Felicité Tichborne, confirmed the impostor as her son, though the rest of the family was not deceived at all. We should note here that antique pictures show that Roger Tichborne was a very slender man, but the claimant was very obese, looking about twice the weight of Roger.
Finally the impostor lost in court, where he was revealed as Arthur Orton, son of a Wapping (England) butcher. Orton found himself sentenced to 14 years' hard labour. The false claimant to the Tichborne fortune had been found guilty of perjury after 260 days, in the longest trial in English history to that time.
The Gilbert and Sullivan opera Trial by Jury is said to have been based on the famous Tichborne Case.
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
1874 Arthur Orton, the false claimant to the Tichborne fortune, was found guilty of perjury.
The Tichborne Case
So ended a celebrated English impersonation case. In March 1853 Roger Charles Tichborne, heir to the ancient Hampshire baronetcy, sailed for South America. On April 20 he departed from there on the Bella for Jamaica. The ship sank, and Tichborne was not heard of again. In October 1865 ‘RC Tichborne’ showed up in Wagga Wagga, Australia, in the person of a man known locally as Tom Castro.
On Christmas Day 1866, Tichborne/Castro landed in England where he claimed the baronetcy. The real Roger's mother, Dowager Lady Henriette Felicité Tichborne, confirmed the impostor as her son, though the rest of the family was not deceived at all. We should note here that antique pictures show that Roger Tichborne was a very slender man, but the claimant was very obese, looking about twice the weight of Roger.
Finally the impostor lost in court, where he was revealed as Arthur Orton, son of a Wapping (England) butcher. Orton found himself sentenced to 14 years' hard labour. The false claimant to the Tichborne fortune had been found guilty of perjury after 260 days, in the longest trial in English history to that time.
The Gilbert and Sullivan opera Trial by Jury is said to have been based on the famous Tichborne Case.
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
Pip Wilson posted item above at 10:05 PM | Permalink
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