The Tichborne Claimant Case

The Oliver Criminological Collection includes a substantial array of pamphlets, trial accounts, and popular ephemera from the sensational Tichborne Claimant case of the 1870s.

Arthur Orton, a butcher in Wagga Wagga, Australia, claimed to be Sir Roger Tichborne, who had been presumed lost at sea in 1854. Although Lady Tichborne, some other family members, and associates—over one hundred individuals—accepted him and initially supported his claim, Orton lost an 1871 trial over the Tichborne inheritance. He was then arrested on a charge of perjury, and, after a second trial, was convicted in 1874 and served ten years in prison. He died, impoverished, in 1898.

http://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/file_upload/four_portraits_from_life.jpg

Arthur Orton, who impersonated Sir Roger Tichborne, circa 1873

http://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/file_upload/tichborne_justices.jpg

Photographs of the three justices who handled the Tichborne Claimant case, Hon. Mr. Justice Mellor, Hon. Mr. Justice Lush, and the Lord Chief Justice of England, Sir Alexander Cockburn, Bart.

The Tichborne case in a nutshell : or, is it possible?, 1874

http://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/file_upload/am_I_the_real_sir_roger.jpg

Am I the real Sir Roger, circa 1875

http://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/file_upload/plea_for_roger.jpg

A Plea for Roger, circa 1874

http://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/file_upload/tichborne_romance.jpg

Tichborne Romance and Orton Reality, 1874