The times., 1897-04-25

| continued Four years later n portion q
the old baroniai mansion fell to the ground
The part left standing was investigated
the timhers Were found to be decayed, ant
the walls insecure The owner then caused
the old han to be pulled down, and the sur
rounding moat TO be filled up. The build
| ings which now adorn Tichborne Park are
entirely modern.
During the fourteenth and fifteenth cen
turies, 500 loayes Were baked on the day
| before the feast of the Annunciation he
dole grew, in course of time, to 1000
] 500 and 1000 loaves In the eighteenth
century more than 5000 loavcs, and from
Geo to $50 in money were annually Ills
| tributed.
The ancient dole measure, in which the
| bread was weighed, is still preserved. II
bearsoa neside the inscription, . Fundatum
Henrico Secundo ReGnante," and on the
other side, "Tichbome Dole, / H., 10
OF. avoir."
By a strang &c coincidence, in 1921 Lady
! Mahel's prophecy was partially fulfilled,
for in that year the head of the family died
and left seven sons, the eldest of whom
succeeded to the haronetCy. In 1916, hc
died leaving seven daughters. He was
| succeeded by his brother Edward, who,
| onh his marriage, nlS26, with Miss Doughty,
! a Lincolnshire heiress, had taken the name
of Doughty y-Tichbore Al the death Of
| his only son,in S35, Mr.. Edward bought y
Fichborne, impressed by the singular full
| fiilInent Of Lady Mabel's prophecy, he
| sought his elder bsother to restore the
dole, and it was again iii istiibuted, with
| certain restri rictions confining it to the
poor of the parish Of Tichhorne. In this
manner the distribution continues to the
present day.
Tie succession to the baronetcy in 1883,
nf ames Francis Tichborne, and the
| loss of his elder son by shipwreck i n 50 [
are events which are still fresh in the
minds OF manypcople Young Roger Charles
| Tichborne was deicatein health and frail
in physique. His education had been some
what desultory, but his morals had been
carefully guarded After a brief period
OF service in the English army, he deter
mined to make a tour of the world, and
reached Brazil in safety, but the ship
Bella" in which he sailed from Rio
Janeiro for New York, was lost.
Sir James died in s62, and his younger
son succeeded to the title and estates.
There was, however, one poor, misguided
still alive. AS early as 1868 the Dowager
Baroness Tichborne began advertising for
Roger Charles, her long-absent son. Her
mind, through brooding over his loss, had
become so disordered that it was her Gus
tom to wander through Tichborne Park
with lantern, on stormy nights, to guide
the wanderer home if he should be there.
Every night she placed lamp for him in
q oil II
insanity on this subject made her an ob-
ject OF pity and ridiculc among her own
servants. The death Of her younger sor,
early in s66, added to her grief and made
her mental condition still worse II is not
strange that her widely-circulated adveG-
tisements should have penetrated even the
wilds OF Australia, especially as one of
its cities boaSted Missing Friends Of
flee the business of which was TO lend
hand in Just such frauds as the one which
Orton. later known as "the Tichbornc
Claimant endcavored to perpetrate.
Arthur 0rton was born in London, OF
poor, but respectable parents. At the age
of fourteen he was placed on board a ship
sailing for Chile. In V Valparaiso he speed
lily became known as a braggart and
liar Later, drifting TO Australia he be-
came a butcher, and sustained his early
reputa tion for trickcry and the use Of as
sumed names. Lady Tichborne's adver-
ments brought him to Englandin 1867 and
for twelve months after announcing him
self as Sir Roger, he was ludlcrously in the
dark as 10 everything pertaining TO the
Tichhorne family, beyond few scatter
ing facts, which he had picked up in the
newspapers from the baroness letters. He
did not even know where the family prop
erty was situated, could not spell the name
Of the woman whom he claimed as his
mother, and his letters to her. by reason
OF his iIliteracy, were worthy of pFeServa-
tion as curiosi ties in English composition
Despite the fact that in manner and ap
pearance he was hopelessly provincial, ana
in all respects far short Of romantic con-
oeption of what the scion of so great a
household should have been, So deep was
his cunning that not until early In 1872
did his rascalty become fully manifest On
March 6 Of that year he was committelto
Newgate for forgery.
In April, 1873, began the celebrated
lawsuit in which he was tried for perjury
committed in the former case Theadjudi-
cation continued 1SS days. The solicitor
general occupied thirty-one days in open
ing the case; the counsel for defense COLI
sumed forty-seven days i'll summing up,
and the chief justice required eighteen
days TO deliver his charge, which would
have filled $50 columns of the London
Times. The jury, III just one-half hour,
convicted him as perjured impoSter.
or the $50 people who, according to
Orton's claim, would be able 10 come for
ward and Identify him, 800 put in an ap-
pcarance, and many of them biased solely,
no doubt, by the rewards they hoped to
receive. The details of the trial have
become Journalistic history.
The claimant had no trouble, from the
beginning, in raising money on the
strength OF his pretensions, and half a
million dollars were contributed by the
English people, III the shape of bonds, TO
enable him to prose cute the case. Accord
ing to the Spectator, 1t cost all parties
the crown, the Tichhorne family and the
defendant S ssupporters-more than a million
and a quarter of dollars. Had 0rton sue
ceeded in his nefarious design he would
have become the possessor of an estate
the annual income OF which is about
f25 900 sterling.
At the close of the tlial he was hurried
to Newgate,. where, in the bitter cold Of
winter twilight, he was thrown on a
pallet of straw, and left to his own reflec
tons He was later taken to Penton-
vile. where his sentence OF fourteen years
at hard labor was committed, by good be-
havior, to ten years and eight months. He
was released October 90, 1884, on which
date he passed from history and from
public interest.
There are yet many people who are at a
loss to know how an illiterate Australian