Editing Tichborne case (section)

==Laying the groundwork, 1867–1871==
===Support and opposition===
[[File:TichborneClaimantSketch.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The Claimant in about 1869, having acquired much extra weight since his arrival in England]]
The Claimant quickly acquired significant supporters; the Tichborne family's solicitor Edward Hopkins accepted him, as did J. P. Lipscomb, the family's doctor. Lipscomb, after a detailed medical examination, reported that the Claimant possessed a distinctive genital malformation. It would later be suggested that Roger Tichborne had this same defect, but this could not be established beyond speculation and hearsay.<ref>Woodruff, pp. 139–140</ref><ref>McWilliam 2007, pp. 199–200</ref> Many people were impressed by the Claimant's seeming ability to recall small details of Roger Tichborne's early life, such as the [[fly fishing tackle]] he had used. Several soldiers who had served with Roger in the Dragoons, including his former [[Batman (military)|batman]] Thomas Carter, recognised the Claimant as Roger.<ref name= McW24>McWilliam 2007, p. 24</ref>{{refn|Carter, along with another former soldier, John M'Cann, was taken into the Claimant's household as a servant.<ref name= McW24/>|group= n}} Other notable supporters included [[Horace Pitt-Rivers, 6th Baron Rivers|Lord Rivers]], a landowner and sportsman, and [[Guildford Onslow]], the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Guildford (UK Parliament constituency)|Guildford]] who became one of the Claimant's staunchest advocates. Rohan McWilliam, in his account of the case, calls this wide degree of recognition remarkable, particularly given the Claimant's increasing physical differences from the slim Roger. By mid-June 1867 the Claimant's weight had reached almost {{convert|300|lb|st kg}} and would increase even more in the ensuing years.<ref name= McW25>McWilliam 2007, pp. 25–26</ref>{{refn|Douglas Woodruff, in his study of the affair, gives the Claimant's weight in June 1868 as {{convert|344|lb|st kg}} and by summer 1870 as {{convert|378|lb|st kg|0}}.<ref>Woodruff, p. 81</ref> |group= n}}

Despite Lady Tichborne's insistence that the Claimant was her son, the rest of the Tichbornes and their related families were almost unanimous in declaring him a fraud. They recognised Alfred Tichborne's infant son, Henry Alfred, as the 12th baronet. Lady Doughty, Sir Edward's widow, had initially accepted the evidence from Australia but changed her mind soon after the Claimant's arrival in England.<ref>Woodruff, p. 74</ref> Lady Tichborne's brother Henry Seymour denounced the Claimant as false when he found that the latter neither spoke nor understood French (Roger's first language as a child) and lacked any trace of a French accent. The Claimant was unable to identify several family members and complained about attempts to catch him out by presenting him with impostors.<ref name= McW25/><ref>Woodruff, pp. 78–81</ref> Vincent Gosford, a former Tichborne Park steward, was unimpressed by the Claimant, who, when asked to name the contents of a sealed package that Roger left with Gosford before his departure in 1853, said he could not remember.<ref name= W90>Woodruff, pp. 90–91</ref>{{refn|At the time he was asked about the package, the Claimant did not know that Gosford had destroyed it. When he became aware that it no longer existed, he gave an account of the contents.<ref name= W90/>|group= n}} The family believed that the Claimant had acquired from Bogle and other sources information that enabled him to demonstrate some knowledge of the family's affairs, including, for example, the locations of certain pictures in Tichborne Park.<ref>Woodruff, p. 66</ref> Apart from Lady Tichborne, a distant cousin, Anthony John Wright Biddulph, was the only relation who accepted the Claimant as genuine;<ref name= McW25/> however, as long as Lady Tichborne was alive and maintaining her support, the Claimant's position remained strong.<ref name= ODNB/>

On 31 July 1867 the Claimant underwent a judicial examination at the [[High Court of Justice#Chancery Division|Chancery Division]] of the [[Royal Courts of Justice]].<ref name= W94>Woodruff, pp. 94–96</ref> He testified that after his arrival in Melbourne in July 1854 he had worked for William Foster at a cattle station in [[Gippsland]] under the name of Thomas Castro. While there, he had met Arthur Orton, a fellow Englishman. After leaving Foster's employment the Claimant had subsequently wandered the country, sometimes with Orton, working in various capacities before setting up as a butcher in Wagga Wagga in 1865.<ref>Woodruff, pp. 99–101</ref> On the basis of this information, the Tichborne family sent an agent, John Mackenzie, to Australia to make further enquiries. Mackenzie located Foster's widow, who produced the old station records. These showed no reference to "Thomas Castro", although the employment of an "Arthur Orton" was recorded. Foster's widow also identified a photograph of the Claimant as Arthur Orton, thus providing the first direct evidence that the Claimant might in fact be Orton. In Wagga Wagga one local resident recalled the butcher Castro saying that he had learned his trade in Wapping.<ref name= McW28>McWilliam 2007, pp. 28–30</ref> When this information reached London, enquiries were made in Wapping by a private detective, ex-police inspector [[Jack Whicher]],<ref>Annear, pp. 122–123</ref> and the Claimant's visit in December 1866 was revealed.<ref name= ODNB/><ref>Woodruff, pp. 108–109</ref>

===Arthur Orton===
{{Further|Arthur Orton}}
[[Image:Tichborne claimant Arthur Orton.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|right|Orton as portrayed in ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]]''  by [[Carlo Pellegrini (caricaturist)|'Ape']], June 1871]]
Arthur Orton, a butcher's son born on 20&nbsp;March 1834 in Wapping, had gone to sea as a boy and had been in Chile in the early 1850s.<ref name= ODNB/> Sometime in 1852 he arrived in [[Hobart]], Tasmania, in the transport ship ''Middleton'' and later moved to mainland Australia. His employment by Foster at Gippsland terminated around 1857 with a dispute over wages.<ref>Woodruff, pp.&nbsp;102–103</ref> Thereafter he disappears; if he was not Castro, there is no further direct evidence of Orton's existence, although strenuous efforts were made to find him. The Claimant hinted that some of his activities with Orton were of a criminal nature and that to confound the authorities they had sometimes exchanged names. Most of Orton's family failed to recognise the Claimant as their long-lost kinsman, although it was later revealed that he had paid them money.<ref name= ODNB/><ref name=McW28/> A former sweetheart of Orton's, Mary Ann Loder, did identify the Claimant as Orton.<ref>Woodruff, p.&nbsp;114</ref>

===Financial problems===
Lady Tichborne died on 12 March 1868, thus depriving the Claimant of his principal advocate and his main source of income. He outraged the family by insisting on taking the position of chief mourner at her funeral mass. His lost income was rapidly replaced by a fund, set up by supporters, that provided a house near Alresford and an income of [[Pound sterling|£]]1,400 a year<ref name=McW28/> ({{inflation|UK|1400|1868|r=-4|cursign=£|fmt=eq}}).{{inflation/fn|UK}}

In September 1868, together with his legal team, the Claimant went to South America to meet face-to-face with potential witnesses in Melipilla who might confirm his identity. He disembarked at [[Buenos Aires]], ostensibly to travel to Valparaíso overland and there rejoin his advisers who were continuing by sea. After waiting two months in Buenos Aires he caught a ship home. His explanations for this sudden retreat{{snd}}poor health and the dangers from [[Brigandage|brigands]]{{snd}}did not convince his backers, many of whom withdrew their support; Holmes resigned as his solicitor. Furthermore, on their return his advisers reported that no one in Melipilla had heard of  "Tichborne", although they remembered a young English sailor called "Arturo".<ref name= McW31>McWilliam 2007, pp. 31–32</ref>

The Claimant was now [[Bankruptcy|bankrupt]]. In 1870 his new legal advisers launched a novel fundraising scheme: Tichborne Bonds, an issue of 1,000 [[debentures]] of £100 face value, the holders of which would be repaid with interest when the Claimant obtained his inheritance. About £40,000 was raised, though the bonds quickly traded at a considerable discount and were soon being exchanged for derisory sums.<ref>McWilliam 2007, p. 33</ref> The scheme allowed the Claimant to continue to meet his living and legal expenses for a while.{{refn|According to Woodruff, the money lasted for 18 months; by the end of 1871 the Claimant was penniless again.<ref>Woodruff, p. 165</ref> |group= n}} After a delay while the [[Franco-Prussian War]] and its aftermath prevented key witnesses from leaving Paris, the civil case that the Claimant hoped would confirm his identity finally came to court in May 1871.<ref>Woodruff, p. 166</ref>