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the initial steps in the legal campaign had been taken, and the adhesion of Mr. Hopkins had given the claimant the benefit of an adviser of shrewdness and experience, though he declined to act professionally. The ordinary method by which estates are recovered by long-lost heirs, whether in fiction or in real life, is the action of eject- ment, now the action for the recovery of land, which in its old-fashioned days of John Doe and Richard Roe was so vividly depicted by Samuel Warren in Ten Thousand a Year. But the Tichborne and Doughty estates were vested in trustees under Roger's will executed in 1853, and proved on the 17th of July 1855; and in the case of settled estates, where long terms of years are outstanding, and all the resources of the conveyancer's art have been employed to provide for a series of remote contingencies, such relatively simple procedure is impossible, and recourse to the Court of Chancery becomes an indispensable pre- liminary. The facts were accordingly submitted to Mr. Gifford,l Q.C., and Mr. Locock Webb; a favourable opinion was procured; and, as fresh evidence and state- ments poured in, they were placed in the hands of the latter gentleman and reduced into legal phraseology. It was a lengthy process; but at last, on the 27th of June 1867, Bills were filed in Chancery against the trustees of the estates, Sir Piers Mostyn and others, and the seven years' war was commenced. The Bill itself was simply an elaborate statement of the claimant's case, with a declaration of the remedy to which he considered himself entitled, which was here alleged to be permission to bring certain actions at law without hindrance from the outstanding terms of years vested in the trustees. The Bill was in due course followed by the delivery to the defendants of interrogatories to which they would be required to deliver an answer. But.any amount of interlocutory proceedings were possible at all stages, and immediately upon the filing of the Bill, the claimant's advisers served notice of motion for the appoint- ment of a receiver of the rents and profits of the estate, and for an injunction against the felling of timber, and the commission of other acts of waste. In support of this were filed all the affidavits which the industry of six months had collected; and, on the 4th of July, the defen- dants obtained an order for the motion to stand over until the claimant had been cross-examined on his affidavit before an examiner appointed by the Court. The cross- examination was fixed for. the 30th day of July before the late Mr. Charles Roupell, and it was to this that the claimant alluded in his last quoted letter to Lady Tich- borne. As the affidavit in question gave the first connected version of the claimant's adventures, subsequent to the sailing of the Bella, it seems desirable to set out at length the paragraphs in which this narrative is embodied ` In the month of April 1854, the shipBella of Liver- pool, Captain Birkett, master, was at the port of Rio Janeiro, and learning that she shortly intended to leave that port for New York, I took my passage by her for that city. The Bella left the port of Rio on the morning of the 20th day of April 1854, with myself on board, and proceeded on her voyage. To the best of my recollection and belief, when she left Rio the crew of the Bella (includ- ing the captain) consisted of about seventeen persons, I being the only passenger on board. All went well until the fourth day after the Bella had left Rio, and was far out of sight of land; but on the morning of that day the mate reported to the captain that she had sprung a leak, and all hands were instantly set to work at the pumps, and every effort was made to save the ship, but without effect. Very shortly after the mate reported the leak it became apparent the vessel was fast filling with water, and the captain announced that all further efforts to save the ship were useless, and that all on board must instantly take to the boats. `The Bella carried a long boat on deck, and two smaller boats, one of which was slung from the davits on each quarter. One of the small boats was stove in and rendered useless, but the crew succeeded in safely lowering upon the sea the long boat and the other boat, and in stowing some provisions and casks of water into the boats. I and eight of the crew got into the second boat, and the cap- tain and the rest of the crew got into the long boat, and immediately pushed off from the Bella, which soon after- wards sank. `The captain, who had in the long boat the ship's charts, ordered that the second boat should keep in sight of the long boat, which she did for two days; but in the night of. the second day a high wind and storm came on, and the boats were soon out of sight of each other, and the long boat was not again seen by those in the second boat. The man who had the command of the second boat then determined to let her drift with the wind. On the morn- ing of the fourth day, after the Bella had sunk, the crew of the second boat descried a ship in the distance, and used every means to reach her, and to attract notice, and for that purpose a red flannel shirt, which one of the crew of the boat wore, was attached to an oar and hoisted as a signal. Ultimately a signal was made in reply, and the crew of that boat rowed to the ship; and I and the whole of the crew on board the second boat were thus saved, after we had been three days and nights at sea in an open boat. 'I was in a very exhausted state when I was rescued, and I was for some time seriously ill on board the ship which saved me, but I was landed at the port of Melbourne, in Australia, about the end of July 1854. `I had saved nothing from the .Bella except the clothes I wore, and when I landed at Melbourne I had no means whatever there for my support. `On the first day I landed, the captain of the ship which brought me to Melbourne, took me to an office, which I believe was the custom-house, and had a con- versation with some person there as to what should be done for me, but nothing was arranged except that I should be allowed to sleep on board the ship that night, which I accordingly did. `Before returning to the ship the captain and I together called at an office, and made inquiries for the purpose of ascertaining how I could get a passage to England, but with- out any useful result. I learnt that Melbourne was then in a very unsettled state in consequence of the gold mania, that the crews of ships as they arrived very frequently deserted for the gold diggings, and that there was con- sequently great difficulty in procuring a passage to England. There were a great number of ships then in the port unable to start for want of hands. `On the day after I first landed at Melbourne I was strolling about the town, and went into a yard called Row's yard, situate in Burke Street, Melbourne, where a large number of horses were being sold. I was much attracted by what was taking place, and a person whom I afterwards discovered to be Mr. William Foster, an extensive stockkeeper of Gippsland, spoke to me, and after ascertaining that I was a good rider, offered to take me with him to Gippsland, where there was good hunting and shooting. `I accepted such offer, and for family reasons I assumed the name of Tomas Castro (after that of. a friend named Don Tomas Castro, whose acquaintance I had made at Melipilla, in Chili), and I continued to use it, and was known in Australia by the name of Tomas Castro until shortly prior to my return to England. `I immediately afterwards left Melbourne with Mr. Foster and his horses, and proceeded to his station at Boisdale, in Gippsland, on the Avon river, nearly 300 miles from Melbourne, where I remained about nineteen months. Mr. Foster then gave me charge of the Dargo station in the Australian Alps, about 115 miles further inland, where I remained for about eighteen months, and then returned to Boisdale, when, after staying for about three months, I travelled about and remained at various places. `On the 29th of January 1865, I intermarried with Mary Ann Bryant, spinster. I and my wife are both Roman Catholics, but, being then desirous of concealing my real name, which I could not have done if the marriage had been solemnised by a priest of the Church of Rome, inasmuch as I must, prior to my marriage, have attended the confessional, my said marriage was solemnised by the Rev. Frederick Thomas Brentwill, a minister of the Wesleyan Church, at the residence of Mrs. Robinson, of Wagga Wagga, I being then married under my assume name of Thomas Castro. `I and my wife thenceforth continued to reside at Wagga Wagga, passing under the assumed name of Castro until shortly prior to my return to England.' How far this story was capable of being substantiated or corroborated, we shall see later on, but there is a further paragraph in the affidavit relating to Mr. Gosford, which may serve as some criterion of it. `On Tuesday the 8th of January 1867, the said Vincent Gosford again called upon me (at the hotel at Gravesend) and had a prolonged interview with me there, and ac- companied me in the train to London. During such interview we discussed various matters and circumstances relating to the Tichborne and Doughty families and the neighbourhood of Tichborne and Upton with which we were both familiar. He has since had another interview with me, and I then again very fully discussed with him such matters and circumstances, and recalled to his memory various facts which occurred previous to my leaving England in 1853, some of which were only known to me and the said Vincent Gosford, and he admitted that some of such facts had escaped his recollection until they were recalled to his memory by me, but that he then well remembered that such facts did occur as stated by me, and I proved to him beyond a shadow of doubt that I was the eldest son of Sir James Francis Doughty Tichborne.' The January interview between Gosford and the claimant has been already described,1 and we will now see what actually took place at the subsequent meeting. Mention has already been made of Mr. Bulpett, the Alresford banker, who had taken up the claimant's cause so warmly, and supported it so liberally ; he was on intimate terms with Gosford, who had told him all that had taken place at Gravesend, and had thereby delayed his recognition of the claimant by some weeks. Once, how- ever, firmly convinced of Sir Roger's identity, Mr. Bulpett could not understand how Gosford could take a different view, and resolved to make a last effort to convert him. For this purpose he invited him to dine one night in June at the Grosvenor Hotel in London, and agreed with the claimant that he should join them after dinner. No inkling of, the plan was given to Gosford, though he must have accepted the invitation with some misgivings, for he was heavily in Bulpett's debt, his account at the Alresford bank being largely overdrawn. Not a word was said until they were actually at dinner, and then he learnt from his host that the claimant was expected, and at the conclusion of the meal the latter appeared with two of his financial supporters named White and Hing- stone. Bulpett at once said, ` I feel you two only want to be brought properly together to understand one another; and, turning to Gosford, `ask him some of the questions that you put to him at Gravesend, and you will see he will answer them.' This was hardly a satisfactory test, considering the opportunities of refreshing his memory that had been afforded to the claimant, and Gosford pre- ferred to broach other topics relative to old days at Poole and Upton. The claimant's mind was not such a blank as it had been at Gravesend, but his answers were highly unsatisfactory, and Gosford resolved on a further test. He asked Bulpett and the others to retire, and then said to the claimant, `Look here, if you are Roger Tichborne, you can tell me what was the nature and contents of that packet you left with me when you went abroad.' The claimant said he could not remember. ` I will tell you further,' continued Gosford, `it was that in the event of your marriage with a certain person, you would carry out certain arrangements ; what were they ?' The claimant could not remember, and Gosford said angrily that it was no use talking. At this point Bulpett and the others rejoined them, and the claimant began to say something about Gravesend, but Bulpett interrupted and said he wanted them to talk about something they both knew, whereupon Gosford exclaimed, I have just put to him a straightforward question. I have asked him the nature of a packet Roger Tichborne left with me when he went abroad.' ` Well,' replied Bulpett, `that is a straightforward questionm -- what was it?' The claimant confessed his ignorance, and Bulpett then inquired where the packet was. As a matter of fact the packet, which related, as will be remembered, to Roger's vow to build a church at Tichborne, had been burnt by Gosford years ago when the fact of the former's death was finally accepted, and the fulfilment of the vow became impossible, but he did not think it necessary to say so, and replied, ` No matter where it is.' After a little desultory conversation, the party broke up in a state of mutual dissatisfaction. It must have required some courage to have authorised and sworn to the account of this interview contained in the affidavit. But to return to the cross-examination. The claimant had now been for nearly six months in constant intercourse with Lady Tichborne, and it requires no violent stretch of probability to suppose that a good deal of their conversa- tion was devoted to old memories and recollections. Roger had been a voluminous letter-writer, his letters had been preserved by his mother, and it is practically certain that, though it was never forthcoming, a copy of the journal kept by him in South America had been sent home to her. With these sources open to him, there would be little doubt that the claimant had availed him- self of them even if we had not found him writing as far back as the 20th of April, ' I hope, my dear mamma, you have found some of the letters.' Of the assistance to be derived from Baigent, Rous, Hopkins, Bogle, the old troopers et hoc genus omne, there is no need to remind the reader, nor of Mr. Holmes' researches at Doctors' Commons and at Lloyd's. Two other circumstances, how- ever, should be mentioned. Lady Tichborne, through the agency of her solicitor, Mr. Norris, had obtained a list of the Jesuit Fathers who had acted as masters at Stoney- hurst during Roger's sojourn there, and a set of very important documents had been procured from the Horse Guards, giving not only an account of all matters con- nected with the individual military service of Roger Tich- borne, but also the fullest details of the composition of the Carabineers, with all particulars as to their movements, etc., both in Ireland and at Canterbury, during the time he was in the army. In obtaining the order for cross-examination the defendants had several objects in view. They had taken the advice of counsel of the highest eminence -- Sir Roundell Palmer, Q.C.. Mr. Hawkins, Q.C., and Mr. J. D. Coleridge, Q.C.-who, after strongly advising that the matter should ulti- mately be fought out, not on affidavits in Chancery but before a jury, had suggested this preliminary cross-examination partly as a means of testing the claimant and partly to give the members of the family and others who had been inti- mate with Roger an opportunity of seeing the claimant in the flesh. With the exception of the interviews mentioned above, not a single one of the Seymours or Tichbornes had been able to obtain even a fleeting glance of their alleged relative, and his humble abode at Croydon was jealously guarded against all unauthorised visitors. It was now to be seen whether the rest of the circle would confirm the unfavourable verdict returned by the Radcliffes and Nangles, by Mrs. Towneley and Mr. Henry Seymour. Nor was the cross-examination itself less essential, but it was necessary that the lines on which it was to proceed should be carefully laid down. The defendants were as yet very much in the dark as to the nature of the case they had to meet, and though certain suspicions had already been aroused, it was most important not to give the claimant any hints nor to develop any latent incon- sistencies in his narrative, but rather to cause him to amplify the statements contained in his Bill and affidavit so as to pin him down, and discover the points to which investigation for the purpose of testing him could most profitably be directed. Under these circumstances it is somewhat strange that the defendants, though commanding the unrivalled powers of Mr. Hawkins, who was actually in Court with a retainer from Lord Arundel, should have intrusted the cross-examination to Mr. Chapman Barber, an eminent member of Lincoln's Inn, but possessing no previous experience of vivâ voce dealings with witnesses. Though the cross-examination lasted for the best part of three days, a very brief selection from the claimant's evidence must suffice. He said he had assumed the name of Castro on the evening of his arrival at Melbourne, but had given his right name on board the ship which rescued him. From his first landing in Australia to the month of January 1866 he had never written to England. He had intended to write, but put it off from time to time; his only reason for not writing was that he did not wish people to know where he was; he should probably have written to his father if he had not started for Gippsland so suddenly. He declined to say whether he had had any quarrel either with his father or mother. He was under the impression that the name of the vessel which saved him was the Osprey, but he could not be certain ; the name of her captain was Owen Lewis or Lewis Owen ; he had had no communication with him since. He refused to give any more detailed account of the shipwreck of the Bella, but said he would answer any questions about it. He had been on her for four days, being tipsy all the time; he had never met any of the other rescued members of the crew, but he had made every effort to find them, and had spent large sums of money over it since his arrival in England. Asked about the Pauline, in which he sailed from Havre, he could not remember the captain's name, but he recollected a slight accident which he met with on board -- a blow on the eye from an albatross which they were pulling on to the deck by a line with which it had been caught. Glyns were his bankers in London, and he had left a large balance with them; but it had never occurred to him when in difficulties in Australia to draw on them for any portion of the £1000 a year which he believed to be accumulating for him there. He could not say whether he had ever mentioned the story of his ship- wreck before 1865, but he believed he had mentioned it to his wife; he did not tell her, however, that he was Sir Roger Tichborne previous to their marriage. He was five weeks at Valparaiso, went thence to Callao, thence to Lima; from Lima he went into the interior on a shooting expedition, then back to Valparaiso, and then to Casa Blanca, and to Santiago viá Melipilla, and from Santiago across the Cordilleras. The first place in Paris where he remembered residing was the Rue de la Madeleine, and he could not remember any other house where his parents had lived except one in the Rue St. Honoré, near the Louvre. He could not remem- ber having any other instructor but Chatillon, nor could he remember what was taught him. He had once made a tour in company with Chatillon, but could not say in what part of France it was, or recall any incident in con- nection with it -- not a single thing that he saw nor a single thing that he did. He could not remember the name of any of his playmates in Paris; he learnt to dance there, but when asked to give the name of any of his partners he said he did not consider it a proper question. The only one of his father's servants whose name he remem- bered was William Burdon.l Asked if he could give the name of a single person besides his father, mother, and Chatillon with whom he had ever conversed in Paris, he said he could tell hundreds but could not remember any at the present time. He said he was not under the care of any one in particular at Stonyhurst so far as he knew, and he could not just then remember the names of any of the masters or teachers there, or who was the principal of the college. He learnt a little Latin, but could not remember the name of any of the books or whether he had learnt Greek. He could not remember what the college course was, or how many students there were, or the name of any one in his class, but he ultimately recalled the names of Petre and Arundel, and the fact that Father Walmesley was one of the priests. Serjeant Ballantine, who, with Mr. Hannen, represented the claimant, gently led him over the ground in re- examination. He said that, previous to assuming the name of Castro, he had known Tomas Castro of Melipilla intimately, having stayed as a guest in his house for three weeks. There were no hotels in Melipilla, and Castro had kindly invited him in. He had now been of very temperate habits for years, but before he went to Australia he would sometimes take a glass too much. His head had been much affected after the wreck of the Bella ; he had been employed in keeping the boat afloat by baling out the water with a preserved-meat tin. Since his examination on the previous afternoon he had carried his memory back to the Stonyhurst days, and he now remembered the names of two more of the Fathers, Cann and Clough; the latter he pronounced ` Clo,' and said he did not know how it was spelt. He also now recollected that his tour with Chatillon was in Brittany, and that he had fallen down and cut his head while climbing up some rocks at a place sounding like ` Ponnic.' The claimant had been accompanied throughout this ordeal by Lady Tichborne, whom he escorted into the room every morning, and at the conclusion of each day's work took her back to her carriage on his arm. The rooms of the Law Institution in Chancery Lane were inconveniently crammed; the defendants had brought up all the available members of the Tichborne and Seymour families, and a host of neighbours, brother- officers, school-fellows and servants who had known Roger previous to his departure for America. The claimant was the cynosure of every eye, and exposed to an amount of observation which would have been discon- certing to any witness, and Sergeant Ballantine more than once remonstrated that the crowding and whispering prevented his client from doing himself justice. In re-examination he asked the claimant if he had recognised during the days he had been there any one whom he had not seen since he left Europe, and the claimant mentioned Mrs. Greenwood, Captain Fraser, formerly a quartermaster in the Carabineers, and another of the officers, Captain Polhill Turner. On the other hand both these gentlemen, and two more from the regiment, General Jones and Major Philipps, swore afterwards that in passing and repassing them the claimant had not given the slightest sign of recognition. Mrs. Greenwood also insisted that the claimant's recognition of her had only taken place quite at the end of the three days' proceedings, and though her husband, with Lady Doughty, Mrs. Washing- ton Hibbert, and Mr. Alfred Seymour, were all present, the claimant left upon their minds the impression that he had not an idea who any of them were. His own sub- sequent explanation was that he knew them perfectly, but believed them to be his enemies and would not speak to them. In any event, the whole body of his relatives, entirely apart from the subject-matter of the examination, were convinced that they were dealing with an arrant impostor, who did not remind them in any respect what- ever of the old Roger Tichborne. The feelings of resent- ment at what they regarded as an impudent attempt at extortion would have been turned into fiercer indignation had they known the next step taken by their soi-disant relative. Mr. Vincent Gosford, as a former trustee of Roger's will, and as defendant in one of the Chancery suits,1 had been called upon to make a formal affidavit on behalf of the infant baronet, and an order had been obtained to cross-examine him on it. Amongst other questions he was asked what had become of the sealed packet intrusted to him by Roger, and he was compelled to give the informa- tion that he had destroyed it. This was on the 1st of August, immediately after the termination of the claimant's re-examination, and on the evening of the 2nd the latter drew up a statement of what he now alleged the contents of the sealed packet to have been, though a few weeks before, at the Grosvenor Hotel, he had denied all know- ledge of the packet or its contents. It was read over to Mr. Bulpett and Mr. Holmes, and though the former had been present at the Grosvenor Hotel and heard the claimant's denial, he marked the document with his initials for future identification. The paper was in these terms: -- 'The principal items of document said to be destroyed by Gosford. In the event of my Father having possession before my return and also dieing before my return, he Gosford was to act for me, and according to instructions contained in document, in the first place he was to have Upton to live at, and was to manage the whole of the Estate. He was to keep the Home Farm in hand he was to showe great kindness to my cousin Kate, and let her have 1 Separate Chancery shits were instituted in respect of the Doughty and of the Tichborne estates. anythink she requires my cousin give me to understand that she was enciente and press me very hard to marry her before I left. I did not believe such was the case nor have I since heard it was so. allways believed it was said for to get me to marry her at once to this my father tried to persuade me it also referred to the village of pryor's dean. He Gosford was to have cottages repaired, improved estate in generally. Gosford was also to make arrangements for Kate to leave England if such was true. Both Gosford and wife pressed me very hard to marry her at once other matters of no consequence. I don't think Mrs. Gosford know about Kate.- R. C. TICHBORNE.' And here let it be said that a blacker lie was never committed to paper, and a more diabolical plot was never framed by the heart of man. I have sketched already in brief outline Roger Tichborne's unhappy love-story; even had Mrs. Radcliffe been in her grave and unable to vindicate her own innocence there was evidence in existence ample and more than ample to shatter this foul slander. She lived, however, to enter the witness-box, to deny with simple dignity the vile and cruel aspersion, and to receive from judge and jury the fullest declaration of their belief in her word. No jury, however, and no reparation could ever compensate for the agony of such an accusation ; long years were to elapse before opportunity was afforded her of making the denial; and meanwhile, very shortly after the claimant had written out this declaration in the presence of Holmes and Bulpett, it was rumoured down at Winchester, and gradually spread through Hampshire and over England, that he had given additional proof of being the real man by repeating the contents of the sealed packet, and that they were of a nature seriously to compromise his cousin. |
