The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1871-06-22
The Great TlchbOrne Trial in England.
From nc ~. Y. sun.

The Great TichbOrne Trial in England.
From nc ". Y sun.
For romantic interest and extraordi- |
nary incident the story now being told |
in the English Court Of Common Pleas,
before Lord Chief Justice Bovill and
special jury, in the great case of Itch |
borne agt. Lushington, can scarcely be |
surpassed by any novel. The question |
involved is the plaintiffs identity with |
Roger @. d. Tichborne, who left Eng |
land in 1858, and was supposed to have |
been lost at sea. If his claim is estab- |
lished, he will come into possession of a
baronetcy and vast estate while, if he
should fail, lie may we'll be regarded as
the most remarkable impostor of modern
times.
Questions of personal identity are al
most always interesting, and are gener-
ally of much importance to the parties
| Immediately concerned; us, for instance,
where the wrong man is hanged by
reason of his close resemblance to the
real ,ciminal, as has unquestionably
happened nGre than once. But such a
case rarely excite. he same degree of
public interest as is manifested when, as
here, the claim to a title and great
estate is disputed, on the ground that
the claimant is an impostor.
The Tichborne trial was begun on the
18th of May, before jury of eleven by
consent of the counsel on both sides,
who comprise some of the ablest men at
the bar. Thus far only the plaintiffs
evidence has been heard but it is of
such a character as almost to Justify the
remark of one of the witnesses that the
claimant is either Sir Roger Tichborne
or the devil
About some of the facts there is no
controversy. It is certain that Roger
G. d. Tichborne, the son of Sir James
d. Tichborne and Lady Harriet f. Itch
borne, was born in January, 1929; that
he was brought up in Paris, where his
father and mother then resided, under
the care of a French tutor named Chatil-
lon. the family being Roman Catholics;
that in 1916 he was sent to school in
England; that he entered the British
army as an officer of the Carbineers in
1S49, and was stationed for q while at
Dublin with his regiment and that in
1858, from some cause which is not
clearly explained, he left England, pro-
ceeded to Havre and there embarked on
a sailing vessel called the Pauline, bound
for Valparaiso.
While an officer in the army young
Tichborne was rather slim, about five
feet eight inches in height, and having
been educated in France his English
was decidedly foreign in accent. His
departure to South America can be at
tributed only to the unhappiness which
he experienced in his home relations
owing to the miserable life which his
parents led together to the ridicule he
encountered i'll the army owing to his
deficient education, and which led him
to sell his commission; and to his love
for wild, roaming life.
It is alleged in behalf of the claimant
that Roger Tichborne, accompanied by
servant named Moore, reached VAL
paraiso in safety, and thence went to
Santiago, where Moore fell sick and was
left behind by his master, who expected
to continue his voyage in the Pauline
After residing a short time at q place
called Melipilla, he abandoned this idea
and made u journey across the continent
of South America. Returning to San
tiago, he met Moore again, and then
made his way to Rio Janeiro, where he
embarked on the Bella, vessel bound
for New York.
Now there is no doubt that the real
i, Roger Tichborne was on board the Bella
when she sailed. The Bella was lost at
sea and when news reached England
that the vessel and all hands had gone
down, it was firmly believed that Sir
Roger had shared their fate. His fathers
will was proved, and the next of kin,
whose guardians appear as defendants
in this suit took the Droperty,
On the proposition that one person
was saved from the wreck of the Bella,
and that that person was Sir Roger
: Tichborne, is based the plaintiffs claim
; in this great suit. He says that two
boats left the vessel that he was in one
of them and that after floating about
in it for three days, he was picked up by
an American vessel and taken to Mel
bourne, where he landed in July, 1854
The Australian gold excitement was
+ then at its height; out Sir Roger-as-
. suming that the claimant is he-being
; good horseman, went to work at break
E ing horses, instead Of digging gold. He
was very fond of horses, and met with
q much success, remaining for some time
y in the service of gentleman named
! Foster in Gippsland, and changing hi.
a name to Thomas Castro, that of Il friend
he had made in Chill. He was married
in 1865, and has had two children.
In the mean time q sailor who had so.
licited aims of Sir Rogers mother, Lady
Tichborne, at Tichborne Park, in Eng.
|, land, saying that he had come from
!. Australia, told her that he had heard
= while there of some persons shipwrecket
9 on the Bella having been picked up ant
brought to Melbourne. This was il
!, 1858. Lady Tichborne attached con
: siderable Importance to it, although hel
= husband did not but after his death
I and in 1868, she advertised the fact anc
= for information concerning her lost sol
in England, Australia, and elsewhere
= The advertisements came to the notice o
the claimant, and led to his return t.
England with his family in 1866.
r How far does the alleged Roger Itch
!. borne OF 1866 and of to-day resemble
|, the Roger Tichborne who sailed from
:. Havre in the year 1858? He is Yer!
much stouter, his height differs little, i
at all, and he is utterly unable to speal
r French, which was the language of hi
1" childhood.
IS But the evidence of his identity is ex
i ceedingly strong. His mother-sinc
e dead recognized him and acknowledge
him as her son. Mr.. Hopkins, the famil,
s solicitor, who had known the younl