1621 King James I creates a baronet of Benjamin Tichborne for his and the family’s services to the Crown.
1821 Sir Henry Tichborne’s eldest son, Henry Joseph, succeeds him, but Henry Joseph has only seven daughters — no male heir — to succeed him in the baronetcy.
1826 Elizabeth Doughty gives her distant cousin Sir Edward, brother of Henry Joseph, an inheritance, including an estate at Upton and a stake in Bloomsbury (McWilliam 9).
1827 James Tichborne marries Henriette Felicité on 1 August (McWilliam 7).
1829 Henriette gives birth to Roger Charles Doughty Tichborne on 5 January (McWilliam 8).
1834 Arthur Orton, the youngest of eight sons, is born in Wapping to George Orton, a butcher, on 20 March (McWilliam 8).
1834 Sir Edward (who assumed the last name Doughty as a condition of his inheritance) and his wife (the daughter of the ninth Lord Arundell of Wardour) give birth to a daughter, Katherine (McWilliam 9).
1839 James and Henriette have a second son, Alfred, after two daughters die in infancy (McWilliam 8).
1845 Henry Joseph dies, and his younger brother Edward becomes the immediate heir. Edward’s only son died as a child, so James Tichborne is now the next heir to the baronetcy, with Roger after him. Roger travels to England to attend his grandfather’s funeral (McWilliam 9).
1845 James places Roger in Stonyhurst College, a Jesuit boarding school in England, where Roger remains until 1848 (McWilliam 11).
1849 Roger sits for the British army entrance exams and picks up a commission in the 6th Dragoon Guards. He conducts most of his service in Ireland for three years, until 1852. When on leave, he stayed with his uncle, Sir Edward, and developed a romance with his first cousin Katherine (McWilliam 11).
1849 Arthur Orton is sent to sea as a cabin boy. His ship sails to Valparaíso where he departs and travels around Chile for a while (McWilliam 8).
1852 At age 18, Arthur arrives in Hobart, Tasmania on the Middleton transport ship, later moving to mainland Australia. He had been gone in Chile in the early 1850s (McWilliam 8).
1853 In February, Roger is summoned to see Sir Edward and forbidden to see Katherine ever again (McWilliam 11).
1853 On 1 March, Roger boards La Pauline, heading to Valparaíso, Chile, for a private tour of South America (Woodruff 24-25).
1853 Sir Edward dies in May, leaving the baronetcy to James.
1853 La Pauline reaches Valparaíso on 19 June (McWilliam 12).
1853 On 29 June, Roger learns that Sir Edward Doughty is dead, so his father has succeeded to the family baronetcy as the tenth baronet (Woodruff 25, McWilliam 12).
1854 In January, Roger begins his crossing of the Andes, ending in Buenos Aires, where he writes to his aunt Lady Doughty that he plans to head to Brazil, then Jamaica, then Mexico (McWilliam 12).
1854 Last positive sightings of Roger in Rio de Janeiro on 20 April as he waits to sail to Jamaica. He boards the Bella even though he has no passport, having struck a deal with the captain of the ship to be smuggled on board. Roger is the only passenger on the Bella. (McWilliam 12)
1854 On 24 April, a ship called the Bella is found capsized off Brazil’s coast.
1854 In June, the Tichborne family is told to presume Roger to be lost (McWilliam 12-13).
1854 A ship named the Osprey arrives in Melbourne in July.
1857 Arthur Orton’s employment by William Foster at a cattle station in Gippsland is reportedly terminated over a wage dispute (Woodruff 102-103).
1862 Sir James Tichborne dies in June. Because Roger is presumed to be dead, the baronetcy passes to Roger’s younger brother, Alfred. (Woodruff 32-33)
1863 In February, Henriette begins placing advertisements in The Times to ask for information about her son Roger and the Bella’s fate, offering a reward. (McWilliam 14)
1865 In April, one "Thomas Castro" writes a letter to James Richardson, a local doctor, where the Claimant asks after "a person called Orton." Jonathan Whicher, a detective, later finds this letter. (McWilliam 30)
1866 On 22 February, Alfred, Roger’s younger brother, dies. His wife Teresa is pregnant with their only son, Henry Alfred Joseph Tichborne, who becomes the twelfth baronet. (McWilliam 14) In the same month, Arthur Cubitt and lawyer William Gibbes from Wagga Wagga tell Henriette that Roger Tichborne has been found, and that he has assumed the name Thomas Castro (the Claimant) and is a local bankrupt butcher. Gibbes insists that the Claimant write a will. (McWilliam 15-16)
1866 In March, the Claimant has a daughter Teresa with Mary Ann Bryant. He married her when she was pregnant with a previous daughter, and took the other daughter in as his own. (Woodruff 45-48)
1866 The Claimant moves to Sydney in July. (McWilliam 16)
1866 On 2 September, the Claimant, with his wife and children boards the Rakaia from Sydney. They sit in first class with the funds sent from England, and two former Tichborne servants, Michael Guilfoyle (gardener) and Andrew Bogle (former slave) join the ride in second class. The Rakaia is heading to Panama, and the Claimant tries to get a nurse to run off together in Panama for a new life in the United States, but she turns him down. (McWilliam 18)
1866 The group arrives in London in December. The Claimant drops his family at Ford’s Hotel in London and calls on Lady Tichborne, finding out that she is in Paris. The Claimant heads to Wapping in East London to enquire after the Orton family, but finds they have left the area. (McWilliam 18)
1866 The Claimant weighs 18 stone. In two years, he will weigh 22 stone, and by 1871 he will weigh 28 stone and four pounds. The Claimant’s weight changes become a defining characteristic as he grows farther from the image of the thin Roger Tichborne. (McWilliam 26)
1867 On January 10, Claimant employs John Holmes, a solicitor, to join him in Paris to meet Lady Tichborne. They meet at the Hôtel de Lille. She allows Holmes to tell The Times that she recognizes Roger in the Claimant. She bestowed upon him an income of £1,000 a year. Lady Tichborne goes back to England with the Claimant to show support, as the broader Tichborne family is skeptical. (McWilliam 21)
1867 In March, the Claimant meets Katherine Doughty, who is now married to Joseph Percival Pickford Radcliffe. She thinks he is a fraud. The Tichborne family sends agent John Mackenzie to Australia to research the Claimant’s claims. (McWilliam 24-25, 28)
1867 On 18 May, Anthony Wright Biddulph, the Tichborne’s distant cousin, recognizes the Claimant as Roger Tichborne, becoming the only family member to accept the Claimant. (McWilliam 25)
1867 In July, Guildford Onslow, Guildford’s liberal MP, recognizes the Claimant. The politically dominant Onslow family owned a lot of property in the Guildford area. (McWilliam 26)
1867 A judicial examination at the Chancery Division of the Royal Courts of Justice into the Claimant begins on July 31. He testifies that upon arriving in Melbourne, he worked, under the name of Thomas Castro, at a cattle station in Gippsland for William Foster. He claims he met fellow Englishman Arthur Orton while there. In Australia John Mackenzie finds Foster’s widow who made the records of the old station, which showed no reference to any Thomas Castro, but did indicate employment of Arthur Orton. Foster’s widow identifies a photograph of the Claimant as Arthur Orton, which becomes the first piece of evidence that the Claimant might be Arthur Orton instead of Thomas Castro. (Woodruff 94-96)
1868 Lady Tichborne dies on 12 March, so the Claimant loses his advocate and main income. His lost income is replaced by some supporters setting up a fund, giving him a house near Alresford and a yearly income of £1,400. (McWilliam 30)
1868 In June, Justice Wilde gives permission for commissions to be dispatched to gather evidence in Chile and Australia. The Claimant goes to South America with his legal team to meet potential witnesses in Melipilla who could confirm his identity. He disembarks in Buenos Aires, and after waiting there for two months, he catches a ship back home, making no attempt to reach Chile. (McWilliam 31)
1870 The Claimant is bankrupt. His new legal advisors create a fundraising scheme in "Wagga Bonds," to be repaid with interest when the Claimant receives his inheritance. This raised about £40,000. (McWilliam 32-33)
1871 In January, John Duke Coleridge, leading the team opposing the Claimant in the trial, writes about the trial's delay in starting, due to the siege of Paris which prevented French witnesses from crossing the Channel. Coleridge writes to his father: "five of our best witnesses in the Tichborne case are shut up there. The Other side don’t know this; and don’t you mention it, but we can’t go to trial without them." (McWilliam 42)
1871 On 10 May, the civil case to research the Claimant's identity comes to court, listed in the Court of Common Pleas as Tichborne v. Lushington. The said action was to eject Colonel Lushington, Tichborne Park's current tenant, but the real aim was to solidify the Claimant's identity as Sir Roger Tichborne. (McWilliam 36-42)
1871 On 11 May, the hearing begins in the Palace of Westminster before Sir William Bovill, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. William Ballantine and Harding Giffard lead the Claimant's legal team. John Duke Coleridge, the Solicitor General (appointed to Attorney-General during the hearing) and Henry Hawkins (future High Court Judge) lead the opposing team. The Claimant alleges that he and Katherine Doughty were married by Father Guidez, Tichborne's parish priest, in a secret ceremony. (McWilliam 28) Toward the end of May, William Ballantine calls the Claimant to the stand. (Woodruff 185)
1871 On 5 July, Coleridge introduces the Pittendreigh letters to the court. Mrs. Pittendreigh was the wife of a clerk in the Tichborne family's solicitors office, who appointed John Mackenzie. The letters showed that the Claimant had been in contact with her and had offered to pay for copies of papers relevant to the case her husband could access. However, some of the letters were forgeries. The Claimant admits to contacting the Pittendreighs, but Colerdige does not persist with the line of inquiry. (McWilliam 50-51)
1871 On 7 July, the court adjourns for four months. (McWilliam 51)
1871 The court resumes in November. Ballantine calls Bogle and Francis Baigent to the stand.
1872 In January, Coleridge begins the case for the defense team, attempting to prove the Claimant to be Arthur Orton (McWilliam 51-52)
1872 On March 4, the jury informs the judge that they are ready to reject the Claimant's suit. Bovill orders the Claimant's arrest, charging him with perjury. The Claimant is committed to Newgate Prison. (McWilliam 52)
1872 On 25 March, the Claimant publishes an "Appeal to the Public" in the Evening Standard to request financial help for his legal and living costs. (Woodruff 223-224)
1872 In April, the Claimant is bailed by Lord Rivers and Guildford Onslow and is greeted by a crowd blocking the entrance of the Old Bailey (McWilliam 55)
1872 On 22 April, in a crowded meeting in the Ancient Druid's Inn in Nottingham, Sergeant-Major Marks, Roger's friend from the army, makes a speech in favor of the Claimant. The group forms a committee and receive many contributions. (McWilliam 56)
1872 Between May and June, the Claimant's supporters start two newspapers: the Tichborne Gazette (28 May 1872) and the Tichborne News and Anti-Oppression Journal (15 June 1872). Both close by the end of the year. (McWilliam 65)
1872 On 14 May, Onslow reports at a public meeting in Alresford that subscriptions to the fund of the defense for the Claimant are growing, and that there have been many invitations to visit and speak in towns. Both Onslow and the Claimant attack the trial's conduct in their speeches. The Claimant attends meetings across the country. (McWilliam 68)
1872 On 11 June, the Claimant visits and addresses a Southampton of around 3,000 people in the Church Congress Hall (McWilliam 70)
1872 On 11 December, at the St. James Hall in Piccadilly, the Claimant and Onslow and Whalley make specific charges against the Attorney General and the Government about perverting justice. (McWilliam 77)
1873 On 20 January, Onslow and Whalley are summoned to appear before the Lord Chief Justice for contempt of court for their words at Piccadilly. Each is fined £100 for contempt of court. (McWilliam 77)
1873 The criminal trial, Regina v. Castro begins on 23 April. The president of the panel is Sir Alexander Cockburn, the Lord Chief Justice. The prosecution team, led by Hawkins, is similar to the civil case, excepting Coleridge. The Claimant is backed by Edward Kenealy, assisted by Cooper Wyld and Patrick MacMahon. (McWilliam 92)
1873 On 22 July, Kenealy begins his speech for defense and calls his witnesses. The address lasts until 21 August 1873. He builds a theme that young Roger was a moral degenerate with an unhappy home life. (McWilliam 98)
1873 On 21 August, Kenealy calls his witnesses until 1 December 1873. Notably, Kenealy calls upon Jean Luie, who testifies that he had been mate or steward on the Osprey and recalls that in April 1854, the ship had come across a lifeboat around 500 miles from Brazil's coast. They picked up six people, one of whom was delirious, whom Luie identified as the Claimant. The Osprey took the men to Melbourne and Luie nursed the Claimant back to health. (McWilliam 100-102)
1873 On 31 October, the trial adjourns for over two weeks so agents could be dispatched to New York. Jean Luie is told not to leave the country. An American detective, Joseph Hercules de Rosiers, testifies that he has never heard of Luie. (McWilliam 103)
1873 On 2 December, Kenealy begins his summations. His closing speech lasts until 14 January 1874, with some interruptions. He attacks the prosecution team in his remarks. (McWilliam 103-104)
1874 Cockburn begins summing up the case after closing addresses from Hawkins and Kenealy (Woodruff 338)
1874 Regina v. Castro ends on 28 February. Hawkins determines the entire story of the Osprey ship rescue to be fraudulent. The Jury decides, after 33 minutes of deliberation, that the Claimant is not Roger Tichborne, and is instead Arthur Orton. The Claimant is convicted of perjury. The jury also condemned Kenealy's conduct during trial. The Claimant is sentenced to two consecutive terms of seven years in prison (McWilliam 107-108)
1874 General Election takes place. Guildford Onslow loses his seat to his cousin after his intense advocacy for the Claimant, ending his political career. The Claimant loses weight in prison (McWilliam 109)
1874 On 2 April, the Oxford Mess disbars Kenealy as a member (McWilliam 110)
1874 On 11 Apri, Kenealy's new weekly newspaper, the Englishman, first issue appears (McWilliam 116)
1874 In July, the Tichborne Estates Act provides that Tichborne trustees must pay the legal costs of the civil trial (McWilliam 109)
1874 On 1 August, the Benchers decide Kenealy is unfit to be part of their society because of the libels in his editorship of his paper the Englishman (McWilliam 110-111)
1874 In September, Kenealy launches the "Magna Charta Association," a political organization with Chartist demands, through the Englishman (McWilliam 125)
1874 On 2 December, Kenealy's Queen's Counsel patent in removed (McWilliam 111)
1875 On 6 February, Kenealy joins the Stoke-upon-Trent by-election as "The People's Candidate" and wins, but fails to create a royal commission into the Tichborne trial, and loses popularity (McWilliam 131-143)
1875 A May letter to Onslow reports that the Claimant has lost 148 pounds / 67 kilograms (Woodruff 378)
1880 By April, interest in the Tichborne case has heavily decreased. Kenealy loses heavily in the General Election. On 16 April, Kenealy dies of heart failure (McWilliam 167-68)
1884 On 11 October, the Claimant is released on license after serving his sentence for 10 years (McWilliam 183)
1886 Kenealy's newspaper The Englishman, which he founded during the trial, closes down, and there are no signs of continued Magna Charta Association activity after this year (McWilliam 184-185)
1886 The Claimant goes to New York and ends up working as a bartender (McWilliam 273-275)
1887 The Claimant returns to England. He is not officially divorced from Mary Ann Bryant, but he marries Lily Enever, a music hall singer. (McWilliam 273-275)
1898 The Claimant dies of heart disease on 1 April. 5,000 people attend Paddington cemetery. He is buried in an unmarked pauper's grave. The Tichborne family allows a card with the name "Sir Roger Charles Doughty Tichborne" to be put atop the coffin before its internment. The Tichborne name is registered in the cemetery's records. (McWilliam 1)
Bibliography
McWilliam, Ronan. The Tichborne Claimant: A Victorian Sensation London and New York: Hambledon Continuum, 2007.
Woodruff, Douglas. The Tichborne Claimant: A Victorian Mystery. New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1957.
Last modified 16 April 2025