When Sir Roger Tichborne was shipwrecked and lost at sea in 1854, his mother fell into a deep state of mourning, both devastated by the loss of her son and insistent that he was still alive. As much as the rest of her family tried their best to convince her that Roger was not ever coming back, she just refused to stop searching. It was a stance that paid off handsomely then, when her long lost son made his triumphant return to England 12 years later with a plan to reclaim the family estate. It would be a claim that would make it to court and eventually be the longest running trial in English legal history, holding the title for over a hundred years and would light up the Victorian press with scandal, humour and class warfare that would last decades.

SOURCES Annear, Robyn. (2002) The Man Who Lost Himself: The Unbelievable Story of the Tichborne Claimant. Constable & Robinson Ltd. London, UK. McWilliam, Rohan (2007) The Tichborne Claimant: A Victorian Sensation. Hambledon Continuum, London, UK. Kinsley, William, J. (1911) The Tichborne Case. The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 20, No. 7 (May, 1911), pp. 563-569. Saunders News-Letter (1867) From Our Own Correspondent. Monday 14 January 1867, Dublin, Ireland. Yorkshire Gazette (1867) Arrival of Sir Roger Tichborne Bart. Saturday 5 January 1867. Yorkshire, UK. London Evening Standard (1867) The Tichborne Baronetcy. Wednesday 23 January 1867. London, UK London Evening Standard (1872) A Last Appeal From The Claimant. Wednesday 27 March 1872. London, UK

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