Staffordshire Figure of Sir R. Tichborne: The Claimant's Tale

A Staffordshire figure of Sir R. Tichborne, 19th century, 38.5 cm high. Note: In 1854 Roger Tichborne, heir to the Tichborne estate in Britain, disappeared at sea. Eleven years later Thomas Castro, then working as a butcher in Wagga Wagga (where the Museum of Riverina is), wrote to Tichborne's mother, claiming that he was her missing son, living incognito in Australia., Castro (real name Arthur Orton, born in Wapping, London) looked and sounded nothing like the thin, educated Roger Tichborne, but staked his claim relentlessly. He figured in two sensational court cases in London, both widely covered in Britain and Australia. Orton, known as 'the Claimant', was eventually convicted of perjury and served 10 years in prison.