Tichborne case decided against Arthur Orton

Background. The Tichborne case was a legal cause célèbre in Victorian Britain. It concerned claims by a man, often called Arthur Orton or the Claimant, to be the missing heir to the Tichborne baronetcy. Protracted enquiries before the 1871 court case suggested the Claimant was Orton, a butcher's son from Wapping, London, who had gone to sea as a boy.

Legal Proceedings. The civil case began in May 1871 at the Palace of Westminster before Chief Justice Sir William Bovill. In January 1872, the defence categorised the Claimant as an impostor. Bovill ordered the Claimant's arrest on charges of perjury and committed him to Newgate Prison, basing the decision on the evidence as a whole.

Public Response. After the civil court rejected the Claimant's case, he was charged with perjury; while awaiting trial he campaigned throughout the country to gain popular support. On 25 March 1872 he published an "Appeal to the Public" in the Evening Standard requesting financial help. His supporters launched two short-lived newspapers, the Tichborne Gazette in May 1872 and the Tichborne News and Anti-Oppression Journal in June, to counteract efforts against his cause. Earlier, in 1870, his legal advisers had issued Tichborne Bonds to fund the case.