Norwich bulletin., 1914-07-08
FAMOUS TRIALS
TRIAL OF THE TcH6oRNE
 q AIMANT
CLAIMANT.


 One of the most remarkable trials of | recent years was that of Arthur Orton, | who claimed to be the long lost Roger | Tichborne and heir to the TichDorne title and estate. This lasted a number of years and involved a great many persons.
 When Sir Edward Tichborne. the ninth baron of that name died. he left an estate that netted about $lOV,VVO year. He had no son, and his nepnew James Tichborne, was his heir. James had two sons, Roger and Alfred: Roger naturally, being the elder, would have been the heir of James, but when the father died all trace of him had been lost. He had started for New York by sea; but the fate of his ship was never know. He was officially de- cIared dead and the Tichborne fortune fell to the younger brother, Alfred. All this happened in 1852. The mother never gave up hope or finding 1 her first born. and in 1866 she offered a reward for any information that would be forthcoming regarding Roger. | In response to this offer an Australian l detective agency produced a man, | known as Thomas Castro. whose real 1 name was Orton, and announced he | was the missing heir.
 | Orton left Australia for England, ! where he gatherd all the information he could regarding Rogers early life, | and then proceeded to Paris, where Lady Tichborne was living, and he | was able fully to convince her that | she accepted him as her son. The l mother claimed to recognize him, and officers of his old regiment were sure | it was Roger Tichborne. He was able l easily to answer all questions. and in l 1S71-Lady Tichborne having died
 three years previously-he brought a
 formal suit for his rights.
 | The Tichborne estate defended the case fiercely, asserting that the claim ant was Orton, the son of London | butcher, and backed this charge with | the other hand, brought forward sail ors who swore that they had taken him from the wreck of the III fated | Bella, and Orton called as witnesses 1 the dozens of old acquaintances who l recognized ihin. He proved he had a wound on the head and brown mark on the side. both of which Roger had had
 For m sntIs the legal battle waged. 1 A number of 'Tichbornc bonds' to de- l fray the expenses of litigation were 1 taken up by the dupes of the impos l ture. and an ejectment action against the trustees of the Tichborne estates l finally came before Chief Justice Bo7 will and a special jury at the Court of Common Pleas on the 11th day of May | 1871.
 | For 183 days the trial went on, and 1 it was not until Sir John Coleridge, l in d speech of length, laid bare the | whole conspiracy from it's inception, that the result seemed to be doubtful. | The evidence of the Tichberne family ! convinced the jury, who declared that i they wanted no further evidence, and on the 5th of March, 1872, Sergeant l Ballantine, who led for the claimant, declared that the case was nonsuited.
 When Orton had lost his suit the | defense at once arrested him and
 placed him on trial for perjury. as well I as several of bis witnesses. The sec l ond trial dragged on for 1SS days, and : large sums of money were subscribed by the indignant British populace to | help the accused man.
 !, This second suit was begun in 1878 before Chief Justice Cochran. The de- 1 fendant showed his old qualities of timpudence and endurance. but the in | discretion of his counsel, Edward Ken
 nealy, the testimony of his former sweetheart, and Kennealy's refusal to l put the Orton sisters on the stand 1 proved conclusive to the jury. who 1 after half hours deliberatfon found
 that the claimant was Arthur Orton. | Orton was found guilty of perjury on two counts and was sentenced on | the 2sth of February, 1874, to fourteen l years penal servitude. The cost of l the two trials was estimated at some ] thing not far short of $1.0oo 900, and | of this the Tichborne estate was l mu1cted of fully s450,0o0.
 | The claimants better Aass sup- l porters had deserted him before the
 second trial, but the people who had l subscribed for his defence were con- 1 vinced that he was persecuted man. There were symptoms of a riot in Lon
 don in April, 1875, when parliament
 unanimously rejected a motion by 1 Kennedy for referring the Tichborne
 case to a royal commission, and the
 military had to be held in readiness. But the agitation subsided and when Orton emerged from jail in 1884 the | tickle public took no interest in him. l Orton came to America on a featuring | tour, and resided for time in New York city. He finally returned to Eng
 land, where he sank into poverty and oblivion, dying in obscure lodgings in
 Marylebone on the 2d of April. 1898.