Scarce contemporary photographic image of Arthur Orton, the butcher from Wagga Wagga who claimed the identity of Roger Tichborne, an English aristocrat who drowned off South America in 1829.

Scarce contemporary photographic image of Arthur Orton, the butcher from Wagga Wagga who claimed the identity of Roger Tichborne, an English aristocrat who drowned off South America in 1829.

Orton's claim to the Tichborne baronetcy was one of the most widely publicised scandals of the 1860s. Orton travelled to England in 1866 where he convinced Roger Tichborne's mother he was her long-lost son. Here began a lifestyle of debauchery and excess, cut short when the family dragged Orton through the courts in 1871-72. Their civil case was unsuccessful, but laid the foundation for a successful conviction for perjury in 1874, and Orton spent the next ten years in gaol.

Several variant carte-du-visites were produced to help fund Orton's legal defence. The National Library of Australia hold a similar example titled 'The Claimant of the Tichborne Baronetcy who alleges he was saved from the Bella'. Here Orton is photographed in a top hat with eyes closed (although the jacket, fob watch and waistcoat are identical to those in this carte-du-visite).