When English aristocrat Sir Roger Tichborne was lost at sea off the coast of South America in 1854, his distraught mother, Lady Tichborne, placed advertisements in international newspapers offering a massive reward for information regarding his whereabouts. In 1865, a butcher living in Wagga Wagga, Australia, named Arthur Orton stepped forward claiming to be the long-lost heir. Despite looking vastly different—Orton weighed over 300 pounds, spoke with a working-class Cockney accent, and remembered almost nothing of Sir Roger's French upbringing or elite education—Lady Tichborne desperately embraced him as her son.
Backed by her endorsement and financial allowance, Orton traveled to England to claim the family's vast estates and title. The resulting legal saga captivated Victorian Britain for years, splitting society into passionate pro-Claimant and anti-Claimant factions. When Lady Tichborne died, the estate's trustees took Orton to court.
During two exhausting trials, legal experts exposed Orton's utter ignorance of Roger's life, including his inability to speak French or remember his school days. In 1874, Orton was convicted of perjury and sentenced to 14 years of hard labor, bringing an end to one of the longest and most expensive trials in British legal history.