The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1931-03-13
HISTO RVS |
MYST ERI ES


/ w than six months and costs In ex-
cess of $1,0O0,0OO in total expenses to
the state and the defendants, 1t Is to
] be supposed that some definite de-
cision will be reached. But not in the
famous case of the missing heir to the
Tichborne fortune, for here the de-
eision Of the court was only partially
satisfactory and the adherents Of the
claimant to the Tichborne millions
maintained to the last that the pre-
siding judge had been tricked by q
shrewd ruse on the part of the oppos-
ing counsel.
Though the final chapter in the case
was written as late as 1893, the affair
had its start nearly century ago
with Sir Edward Tichborne, an Eng
lish baronet of considerable wealth.
Sir Edward having no sons, the heir
to the title was his nephew James |;
who, in turn, had two sons, Roger and
Alfred Roger, the elder, is described
as being of a headstrong, excitable
| disposition and, on this account, was
sent abroad for two years as sort of
probationary period to prepare him
for his announced marriage with his
cousin, Katherine.
1t was In 1852 that Roger Tichborne
resigned his commission In the British
army and sailed for South America,
| to take part In commercial pursuits
In that section of the world. After
/ oh oft Ap,n
| little over year, word reached him
of the death Of his grand-uncle and the
succession Of his father to the title
thus making him the next in line for
the Tichborne millions Accordingly,
| Roger set sail from Rio de Janeiro on
board the Bella, q ship which mys-
teriously disappeared at sea. When
| the news OF the loss Of the ship
reached England, Lady Henrietta
Tichborne, mother Of Roger and AL
| fred, refused to credit the account Of
the wreck and stoutly maintained that
her son must have been saved-add-
ing that Roger had appeared to her In
a dream and had informed her that
| he was safe and that she would have
no cause to worry about him, though
she might not hear from him for some
| time.
| In spite Of the fact that the pas
sage of the years brought no trace
whatever of the missing man and that
the death of the elder Tichborne
caused his younger son, Alfred, to
succeed to the title and the estate
Lady Tichborne continued her appar-
| emily useless search for Roger and,
| fourteen years after the loss of the
Bella, detectives In her employ dis
covered what appeared to be clew,
| In a man named Thomas Castro, a
wanderer In Australia. Castro, who
bore striking resemblance to Roger
| Tichborne, was brought to Paris and
there identified" by Lady Tlchborne
as the man who had supposedly gone
down on the Bella nearly fifteen
years before.
Here enters the second mystery con-
nected with the case-the first being
the strange loss of the ship at sea.
|
held the baronetcy and enjoyed the
Tichborne fortunes, was Lady ITCH
borne so insistant upon locating her
elder son, ne'erdowell, and why did
she fight his claim against his broth
err up to the very moment Of her
death not long afterwards?
At the trial which ensued a number
Of Roger Tichborne's friends positive
| ly identified Castro as the missing
man, while several OF the sailors of
the Osprey, an American vessel,
testified they had rescued a number Of
men from ships boat bearing the
name Bella, among them delirious
man who declared that his name was
Roger" and who was none other than
this same Castro. When additional
witnesses described birthmark which
Roger Tichborne had had and SIM
liar marks were found upon Castro,
the case appeared to have been won
by the plaintiff.
But the counsel for Alfred Itch.
borne demolished the whole frame
work OF evidence by producing q
sealed envelope which Roger ITCH
borne had given to his finance just
before he had sailed for South Amer
lea and challenged the claimant to the
Tichborne title to describe its con-
tents. Manifestly at loss for an
answer, Castro made wild statement
about having broken off his engage
ment to his cousin and having left
instructions In the envelope to this
effect. The counsel for the defense
then broke open the seal and read as
| follows:
IF God spares me to return and
marry my beloved Kate within three
years, promise to build church and
dedicate 1t to the Blessed Mother"
This disclosure had the effect Of a
bombshell and the case was immedi-
ately thrown out of court, Castro be-
ing later tried for perjury and sem