Arthur Orton
Fraud
Arthur Orton was the subject of one of England's longest-running trials (1873-74). A butcher, he impersonated the son of Lady Henrietta Felicite Seymour Tichborne. Lady Henrietta's oldest son, Roger, had been lost at sea in 1854 and presumed dead. After her husband died, she continued to seek word of Roger, taking out an advertisement in Australian newspapers. Orton, then known as Thomas Castro, answered the ad, claimed to be her son and returned (with his wife) to England to live as heir to the family fortune. Lady Henrietta believed him, but others didn't. After a trial that lasted 102 days, a jury determined that the "Tichborne Claimant" was an impostor named Arthur Orton. Then followed a trial for perjury lasting 188 days, in which Arthur Orton was convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison. He was released in 1884 and confessed in 1885.Four Good Links
The Tichborne Trial
Good introduction and extreme detail from 1899
High Bailiff Laughton's Recollections
Oral history of some details related to the Tichborne case
Arthur Orton
Entry from the Australian Dictionary of Biography
Arthur Orton Portraits
A handful from the National Portrait Gallery in the United Kingdom
Vital Stats
Birth
Birthplace
Death
Best Known As
Impostor defendant in one of England's most famous trials
