This week on Dee-Brief, Dee dives into one of the most extraordinary courtroom dramas of Victorian England — the case of The Tichborne Claimant.

When Sir Roger Tichborne vanished at sea, his grieving mother refused to believe he was gone. Over a decade later, a butcher from Australia stepped forward, claiming to be the missing heir — sparking one of the longest and most sensational trials in British history.

Was he a conman, a delusional dreamer, or a symbol of class rebellion? This is the story of Arthur Orton — or Sir Roger, depending on who you asked — and the bizarre, heartbreaking, and utterly human saga that captivated a nation.

Part scandal, part tragedy, part early celebrity circus — the Tichborne case is proof that truth can sometimes be stranger than fiction.

Sources:

• Rohan McWilliam, The Tichborne Claimant: A Victorian Sensation (Continuum, 2007)

• Christopher Hilliard, The Claimant: A True Story of a Man Who Would Be King (Penguin, 2024)

• The Times archives (London, 1871–1874)

• British Library: Tichborne Trials Collection

• BBC History Magazine, “The Butcher Who Claimed to Be an Aristocrat” (2015)

• The National Archives, UK: CRIM 1/51, R v. Castro (The Tichborne Case)
  

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