A Plea for Roger

A Plea for Roger

Tichborne, Roger, Sir

Orton, Arthur, 1834-1898

Engravings (prints)

Poetry

Satires (document genre)

The Oliver Criminological Collection includes a substantial array of pamphlets, trial accounts, and popular ephemera from the sensational Tichborne Claimant case of the 1870s, including this broadside satirical poem defending the claims of Arthur Orton to be the missing Tichborne heir.

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.

Satirical poem entitled A Plea for Roger and engraving related to the Tichborne Claimant case

Unknown

Disley

1874, circa

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John Rathbone Oliver Criminological Collection of the Harvard Medical Library (uncataloged)

text

1 poem and 1 engraving

English

text

Gift of John Rathbone Oliver, M.D., to the Magrath Library of Legal Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 1936