The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-16 00:00:00

THE TICHBORNE BARONETCY

The difficulties which surrounded the settlement of the
question of succession to the Tichborne baronetcy are
likely to become still more complicated by the sudden and
unexpected death of Lady Henrietta Felicitd Tichborne,
upon whom an inquest has been held by Dr. Lankester,
at the request of the claimant of the family estates, who
made a statement upon oath from which it would seem
that he suspected the death to have been caused by unfair
means. It may, perhaps, be necessary for the purpose of
rendering the case complete, to recall attention to the fact
that recently a gentleman suddenly appeared in England
who claimed to be Roger Charles Doughty Tichborne,
tenth baronet, and heir to the title and estates connected
with the Tichborne family. He stated that, after meeting
with various misfortunes consequent upon a voyage he had
undertaken twenty-seven years ago, he reached Australia,
and had remained there up to the time of his leaving for
England. He was admitted by the deceased lady to be
her son, and was in immediate and friendly relation with
her up to the time of her death, but his identity was denied
by the other members of the familylnterested in the dis-
posal of the property.

Upon the opening of the coroner's court, at Howlett.s
Hotel, Manchester-street, Manchester-square, Mr. Locock
Webb stated that he appeared on behalf of Sir Roger
Doughty Tichborne.
Mr. Alfred Seymour, 39, Upper Grosvenor-street,
sworn and examined, said : I am half-brother of the
deceased. I believe she was born in 1804, and was at the
time of her death 64 years of age. She was the widow of
Sir James Francis Doughty Tichborne. She has been in
very good health lately, but I have no reason to suppose
that she came to her death by any other than natural
causes.

Coroner : I believe the son of deceased is present.
Mr. Dobinson (of the firm of Dobinson and Geer, Lin-
coln's Inn) : As the agent of the estate, I dispute that this
gentleman is her son.

Coroner : That does not matter so far as this inquiry
is concerned, if he swears that he is her son.
The gentleman in question, who had only been referrers
to by gesture, here stepped forward, and having been
sworn by the coroner, said : My name is Roger Charles
Doughty Tichborne. lam the son of the deceased. I saw
her last alive this day week. She appeared to me to be in
good health. I heard of her death about ten minutes
past two on Thursday last, or, rather, I was summoned
to come to London from Croydon immediately at that
time. I found her dead a little after four.

Coroner : Do you know how she came by her death, or
do you suspect anyone of causing her death ?—Witness
(after a long pause, during which he seemed struggling to
control his feelings) : I do not know how she came by her
death, but I wished the post-mortem examination to be
made, because I am fully aware that one of my servants
was offered £l,OOO to put me out of the way.
The next witness was then called.

Edward Hurst, a waiter at Howlett's Hotel, deposed :
Her ladyship had been living here for five months. She
had been in general good health all that time. I found
her dead on Thursday morning at twenty-five minutes
past eleven, in her room, with her body on the floor by the
fireplace, and her head on the sofa. She had her dressing
gown on. I had not seen her till then since the morning
before, when she went to Croydon. Her maid and her
footman were both with her the morning she died.
Mr. Henry Times, M.R.C.S.: I was called to deceased
at half-past eleven on Thursday morning. She was quite
dead. She had been dead a very few minutes, and was
quite warm. I could not detect anything in the room like
poison. Her body was moderately nourished. I found
extensive congestion of the brain. There was a little fluid,
but not enough to account for death. There was some
also in the ventricle. I opened the chest and found the
lungs congested, and there was evidence of long-standing
disease. There was very little fluid in the pericardium.
The heart was very small and shrunken. The right wall
was very thin. The left wall was thicker, but the fibrous
substance was easily broken in. There was fatty degenera-
tion of the heart. The right cavities were full, and there
was a slight quantity of fluid blood in the left. The valves
were healthy ; the stomach had a little fluid in it, which I
have preserved. I did not perceive any indications of
poison. Mr. Tiernan and several other medical gentlemen
who were with me when I made the post-mortem exami-
nation agreed with me. Mr. Tiernan said all the organs
were healthy except the heart. The cause of death was
fatal syncope from a feeble heart.
The Coroner said that was a very common cause of death
in persons of from 60 to 70. The heart gradually shrunk
from its natural size, and suddenly failed altogether. There
were circumstances connected with the case that might lead
them to suspect unfair play, but there was an entire want
of evidence to support any suspicion. Everything seemed
to be going on properly in the hotel, and they could not
suspect deceased's servants. If, however, the jury thought
there was the slightest reason to suppose that she had
taken, or had had administered to her any poison, they
must adjourn, and send the contents of the stomach to
undergo a careful analysis.
After some conversation on the subject of further
medical evidence, in the course of which the coroner said
the Middlesex magistrates frequently hampered him by
making him liable to pay for extra medical evidence out
of his pocket, and would do any injustice to save a few
shillings,
Mr. Lewis, M.R.C.S., corroborated the evidence of Mr.
Times.

Mr. Times, in answer to the foreman of the jury, sam
the death might have been hastened by abstinence from
food. Deceased was a strict Catholic, and might have
been fasting. He had often given her medical certificates
in consequence of her unfitness for fasting, but she had
not asked for certificates lately.

After a short deliberation in private, the jury returned a
verdict " That deceased was found dead, and that death
was caused by atrophy and fatty degeneration of the
heart."

MYSTERIOUS DEATIL—AbOUt a quarter to ten
o'clock on Saturday night a gentleman standing near St.
Pancras Church hailed William Preston, cabman, badge
859, of 10, Granby-yard, Granby-street, Hampstead-road,
and got into the vehicle in company with a young woman.
The man abruptly got out between Tottenham-court-road
and Portland-road, paid the driver the fare, and directed
him to drive the woman to the Baker-street station of
the Metropolitan Railway. On arri<i.ug there the cab-
man found the woman lying insensible and in a disordered
condition at the bottom of the cab, and he at once called
the attention of Police-sergeant Ifutley, 16 D, and
Constable 178 B, to the circumstance. The officers
had her removed to the Marylebone workhouse, where she
was examined by Mr. Fuller, the workhouse surgeon, and
Pronounced to be dead. An inmate of the workhouse, who
saw the body, said she believed deceased was a woman of
loose character named Williams, who formerly cohabited
with a man whose name she also furnished to the police.
The cabman gave the following description of the person
who hailed his cab :—Apparent age, 35 ; height about sft.
; smoothly-shaved chin, sandy whiskers ; dressed in
an overcoat buttoned up closely to the top ; of gentlemanly
manners and appearance. The deceased was apparently
about 30 years of age, dressed rather meanly, but neat
and clean in her appearance: The boots worn by her
differed in pattern from. each other,

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Irtilbre

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, March 15.
The Queen drove out yesterday, accompanied
by Princess Louise and the Dowager Duchess of
Ath ele.
Prince Leopold walked in the grounds.