Contempt of Court - The Tichborne case - stock illustration

Vintage engraving of a scene from the Tichborne case, the claimant and Mr Skipworth in the Court of Queen's Bench. The Graphic, 1874. The Tichborne case was a legal cause celebre that captivated Victorian England in the 1860s and 1870s. It concerned the claims by an individual sometimes referred to as Thomas Castro or as Arthur Orton, but usually termed "the Claimant", to be the missing heir to the Tichborne baronetcy. He failed to convince the courts, was convicted of perjury and served a long prison sentence.