The times., 1897-04-25
Rumor of His Discovery in an
Australian Asylum.
EFFORTS FOR HIS RELEASE
The Interesting History of the Ar
cient Tichborne Estates in Eng
land, Dating Back 10 saxon
TIInes-The Legend of Lady Mabel.
Her Prophecy Partially Fulfilled.

the lOSl Lieut.. IlCbboIhS mas pNNh "i~
covered in the Paramatta Insane Asylum,
and that steps have already been taken Z"
procure his release, in order that he may
proceed to England and claim his estate
While it is extremely improbable that the
real Roger Charles Tichborne lives, or that
a second impostor will risk the punish
ment meteI out TO Arthur OIton twenty
two years ago, the rumor Teviyes sin
gular legend which has been current in
the family for many generations.
The ancient manor OF Tichburne lies
near Winchester, the county seat of lamp
SHIRE, u Episcopal city, The origin nof which
is lost IN the fables OF tradition. 1t was
once the capital OF the Saxon heptarchy,
and in the choir OF its cathcdral-ln many
respects The nuest in EngIanG-Sleep seven
Saxon kings, close 10 the unadorncd tomb
of William iIurus, ana the cnanIreyln which
slumbers William OF Wykeham, founder
In I3s1 of the famous ana aulFIy-enGowed
St Mary's College. Back of the magnifi-
cent rereIcs in me rear fine high altar Is
the chapeli in which stood the jewel-studded
shrine Of . I'D given by King Edgar IS a
receptacle FOR the body OF st. Swithin.
Here, also, among those of other families
older than Jhe laws which now protect
their heritagcs, lie the ancestors of the
house of TIchborne.
Two hundred years prior TO the Norman
coaquasttfe malorof TichbOrne was known
as Itchenborne because ii stood at the head
of the River Itchen. Shortly after the first
- PIantagenet ascendcd the throne Sir Roger
de Itchenborne, Knight, married Mabel, only
daughter aud hcreSs of Sir Ralph de Lam
erst,n, of the Isle OF Wight. After many
years of welded happiness, during Which
her name became a synonym for gOjlly llv-
ing and kindness TO the poor, Lady Mabel.
realizing that she was near to death, BE-
sought Sir Roger to besUow upon her such
means as would enable her To leave a loaf
OF bread To all applicants, on Annmciatiyn
day, forever. Sir Roger, known IN history
as gallant knight, was ungallant enough
TO grant the fulfiilnent Of the request rly
under condition extremely hard for his
wife, whose illness had kept her beClrdden
for many years. He is reported as having
uttered these words.
'Temofrow will be Christmas. All the
land from yonder oak tree that you can
traverse north and east while the morning
yule log burns 1 will enclose within par
alle1 lines corresponding on the south and
west, and 1t shall be your own.
The next morning, at the lighting Of The
yule log, she was borne to one corner OF the
park, and commenced her painful task
Before the cry came fIom the han that lie
yule log was in ashes, she had won a
tract of fifteen acres of very rich iand,
known today as THE Crawls, in memory
Of the difficulty of her task.
Sir Roger kept his word. The land was
surveyed and decided to Lady Mabel, Tut
she had already been conveyed to har bed
IN a state Of exhaustion. The effort had
hasteued her death. and a few hours later
the parSh priest was summoned TO 3dIun-
lister The last rites of the church. While
awaiting his coming, size called her EoIsa-
hold around her, and pIophesied that the
house Of De Itchenbone would prosper as
long as the dole to the FOnr was continued,
but thatif it Were ever neglected the emily
name would hp lost for the want Of Tlale
Issue, aud that in that case the tarnnet
of the day would have seven sons, lie old
est of whom would have seven daughters,
but no sons.
She Lhrn received her confessor, accepted
his niniStations, and died Near the re-
-cessed doorway of the Lady Chapel OF
Winchester Cathedral, in spot made heau-
DtNlfN tleSlIll1tiNNi liAitit.E
windows Of the choir, may stiIl he feen
the marble altar tomb bearing the ,ffigv
OF the first known and greatest Of the
women of the house of TiCl.bone.
The successive generations OF the descend
ants OF Lady Mabel have staunchly adhered
to the Roman Catholic faith. They have
clung with equal tenacity TO their noble
traditions, for the knights and baTons of
the civil, political and religious annals OF
England. On the night before tbs :ano-
minious death. in 1856, for alleged partici
patton in the conspiracy of Ballard and
Burlington, the accomplished Chidiock Itch
borne wrote: II am descended from
house from two hundred years before tie
Conquest, never shamed till this my mis-
fortune" Isaac pisraeli, viewing in the
unimpassioned light of the nineteenth CEN
tury thclirc and character of this ill-starred
youth, numbers him among those worthy
of ranking with the heroes rather than
with the traitors of England"
Through more than six centuries of sun
shine and shadow the house of Tichborne
Continued the AnnunCiatiOn charity known
as 1.-THE dole" Different branches of the
house-cnildren, grandchildren and neigh
distribution InI670 Sir Henry Tichborne,
who had suffered much in person and prop
erty during the Commonwealth, and was
recompenScd after the Resto IA ton, en-
ploved Giles THhury, an eminent Flemish
painter, TO execute a picture which should
represent the ceremony of distributing the
dole
This painting is stlIl in existence 1t
has many defects in perspective, but it is
valuable as a faithful represen tation of
old Tiehborne House, built fully 500 wears
prior to the accession of James l. it de-
llneates, as web, the costumes of the cav;
and, above all, depicts the face and cigure
of the then head of the house as bearing
q striking resemblance to the old portrait,
still preserved, Of Sir Roger de Itchenborne
of Plantagenet days Tilbury's painting
passed by marriage into the Blount .am-
ny. of 0xfordshire, and is now owned ny
the heirs Of Sir Edward Dougherty Itch
borne, ninth baronet of the house, the bar
onetcy of Tichborne dating from the reign
of James l.
1t has been said that few, if any, Of the
early charities OF England answer now the
intent of the givers- The daily benefaction
at the Hospital of st Cross, Winchester.
founded by Cardinal Beaufort another Of
the cathedral's distinguished dead-has
been little modified since the days of
that prelate, but the Tichborne dole had
perhaps the longest record OF all. For aix
centuries it fed the hungry for at leastone
day in the year 1t kept its foundress in
pious memory, and furnished to other
wealthy families an example worthy of
emulation. But its distribution became at