Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1872-03-14
THE TICHB0RNE CLAIMANT.

The dispatch announcing the withdraw
al of the claimants cause before the court,
and his subsequent arrest on q charge of
perjury was II denoument not antici-
pated by most people. To the very last
moment his friends felt confidence In him
and there are large numbers of people
whose faith will not be shaken even by
the action of the court. If he is an i'm.
postor he Is one of the boldest and most
'mpudent of his class, while to believe
mat he IS what he really processes seems
Impossible, after what has occurred. Still
LOOK at the case as You may, doubt rests
with every one as to his true character.
The Tichborne family is Of Saxon Eng.
lish origin and one of importance in
Hampshire before the Norman conquest.
1t owned then, as it still owns, some lands
ut the head of the river Itchen, which
gave to the estate the name Of De Itchen
Bourne, OF the ltchen bourne. or brook.
The family Is, therefore, very ancient
one, and the property has been retained
in the family by rightful succession until
the present claimant put in his appear
ance. who endeavored to prove that he
was Roger Charles Tichborne, supposed
to have been lost at sea off the coast of
South America in the spring of 1854, and
the eldest son of Sir James Tichborne.
The cause of action. which resulted in
the present extraordinary trial, was insti-
tuted by the claimants lawyers in the
shape of an ejectment brought against
one of the tenants of the Tichborne estate
for non-payment of rent. The trial was
commenced in the Court of Common
Pleas in the city of London on the 1lth of
May last year. The issue to be deter
mined, was, whether the claimant was or
| was not the heir Of Sir James Tichborne.
who died in 1862. 1t would be impossi-
BILE to give the full history of the trial, the
main point of which was the identity of
the claimant, whether or not he was
Arthur Orton, would be impostor. or
Roger Tichborne, the heir to the property
personal identity was essayed through the
instrumentality of numberless witnesses.
The physical testimony-that borne by
Tichborne, pecularities of eye, and ear,
and thumb. and knee, and body-borne
cicatrices-were the latest adduced, man.
ifestly as the crowning and resistless evil
dent fact. Judge and jury had ocular
demonstration in support of the faith
worthy witness-bearing Of eminent and
honorable professional medical men, with
regard to the scars on the scalp and ankle,
the peculiarly flexible" knuckles. the
ear-lobes, unusually pendant" the sim
gular ''congenital marks" on the sides,
and other outward and visible tokens
which were considered to establish the
claimants identity. The evidence good
for the presence Of "Tichborne marks
was found equally good for the absence of
one particular brand or indelible stain in
the flesh, which it is positively affirmed
the true Roger Tichborne of eighteen
hundred fiity-one could be proved to
have been born with upon his person,
on testimony than which nothing more
indubitable has been presented in the pro-
gress OF the inquiry. II examined the
plaintiff with Sir William Ferguson, Mr..
Tanton and DR.. Lipscombe," deposed DR..
| Sutherland, at the close of his cross-ex-
animation by the Attorney General. land
there were no tattoo marks upon the
plaintiff" This, it may be in the recol-
lection Of all who have read the reports of
the inquiry, corroborated the averment of
Orton. the claimant, himself, he having
sworn that ''he never had been tattooed"
When Sir j. d. Coleridge pressed him on
this point, the prevalent surmise was that
probably such marks had been kown to
exist on the person OF Orton. The ques
ton which elected such distinct answer
had been asked with the same intent that
lurked in an accompanying apparently
simple but highly significant inquiry,
did you know Mr.. Bellew in the Cara
biniers?" 1t was not therefore surpris-
ing to hear that the present Lord Bellew,
OF Barmeath Castle, county Louth. Ireland,
showed that the actual ''tattooing'' of the
Carabiniers is fact substantiated by the
most solemn and reliable testimony
that of the very man-Lord Bellew-
who performed the operation with his
own hand. Yet, Notwithstanding that the
claimant was rejected by nearly all of the
relatives and many of the friends of the
Tichborne family, it must be borne in
mind that Lady Tichborne herself recog-
nized him as her son whom she had long
supposed lost. More than this, witnesses
taken from almost every sphere OF life.
brother officers of Sir Roger, soldiers of
the regiment in which he served, as we'll
AS professional men and tradesmen, pro-
fessed to recognize the claimant as the
Sir Roger Tichborne of years ago. Old
servants of the family testified in his favor
believing him to be the long lost heir. So
great was the interest evinced in the prog
ress of the trial and so firmly convinced
were large numbers of people that the
claimant would win his case that the
Tichborne bonds issued by the claimant
or his friends found numerous purchasers.
On the 2lst of December, 1871, the
case for the claimant was brought to a
close. Though their witnesses were BY
no means exhausted. and there were
many others who could be brought for
ward, the counsel for the plaintiff was
satisfied that sufficient and forcible cvi-
dence had been adduced to secure ver-
dict for the claimant. The counsel ac-
cordingly closed his case, and just three
days before last Christmas the Court ad.
iourned the further hearing Of the trial till
January 18th, on which day the Court re-
assembled for the further hearing OF THIS
most extraordinary trial. lord Chief
Justice Bovin occupied his place upon the
bench. and Solicitor General Sir John
Duke Colerage, after some unimportant
testimony, commenced an address, re-
viewing mnutely the whole case OF the
claimant. The remainder of the story Is
told by the kilograms from London. which
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