THE TICHBOURNE BARONETCY.

Southland Times, Issue 1061, 23 November 1868, Page 3

THE TICHBOURNE BARONETCY.

(From the Affidavit of the Australian Claimant.) I left my. regiment with the object ol travelling for some years in distant lands, and in the first instance I determined to proceed to South America. In the month of, March, 1853, 1 took passage on board a ship bound for Valparaiso, where I arrived in due course, and from that time until the month of April, 1854, 1 travelled from place to place in various parts oi South America, In the month of April, 1854, the ship Bella, of Liverpool, Captain Birkett, master, was at the port of Rio de Janiero, and learning that she was bound from and shortly intended to leave that port for New York, I took my passage by the Bella for, that, city. The" Bella left the port of Rio, & the best of my recollection and belief, on the morning of the 20th day of April, 1854, with me on board, and proceeded on her voyage. When she left Rio, the crew of the Bella (including the captain) consisted of about seventeen persons, I being, as I believe, the only passenger on board. All went well until the 4th 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 that 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, which was the larger of the two small ones, hereinafter referred to as " the second boat," and in stowing some provisions and casks of water into the boats, and I and eight of the crew got into the second boat, and the captain and the rest ot the crew got into the long boat, and immediately pushed off from the Bella, and the ship Bella soon afterwards sunk. The captain who had in the long boat the ship's charts, ordered that the serond 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 morning of the fourth day after the Bella sunk, the ?rew of the second boat descried a ship in the distance, and used every means to Teach, her and to attract notice, and for that purpose a red'flannel shirt which one of the crew wore, was attached to an oar and hoisted as a signal, j Ultimately a signal was made in reply, and 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, 1864. I liad 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 took me to an office, which I j believe was the Custom House, and had a conversation 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 made inquiries for the purpose of ascertaining how I could get a passage to England, but without 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 frequently great difficulty in procuring a passage to England. There were a great number of ships then in 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 Bourke-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 Porater, an extensive stock- ■ keeper of Gippsland, spoke to me, and | after ascertaining that I was a good rider, offered to take me with him to Grippsland, where there wa3 good hunting and shoot- 1 ag- . ! I accepted such offer, and, for family reasons, I assumed the name of Thomas Castro" (after that of a friend named Don Thomas Castro, whose acquaintance I had made at Mellipilli, in Chili), and I continued to use and was known in Australia by the name of Thomas Castro, until shortly prior to my return to England, as hereinafter mentioned. I immediately afterwards left Melbourne with Mr Forrester and his horses, and proceeded to Mr Eorster's station at Boisdale, in Gippslsnd, on the Avon River, nearly 300 miles from Melbourne, where I remained about nineteen months. Mr Eorster then gave me charge of the Dargo Station, in the Australian Alps, about 115 miles further inland, where I remained about eighteen months, and then returned to Boisdale, where, after staying for about three months, I went about twenty miles off to Sale, or Flodden Creek, on River Latrobe, where I remained about isix montns. From that place I proceeded to Norman M'Leod's station, on the Mitchell River, about sixty miles from Sale, where I entered into partnership with one Fredrick Burrows, ; and remained there about four

months, and was .veil known to Mr Smith of the Lindino Station. I went from I that place to the Omeo diggings, p where I remained about four months, and from there to Deniliquin, in New ' South Wales, where I remained for y about thirteen, months, and from [ thence 1 proceeded to Hay, on the - Murrumbidgee Eiver, and remained there I about nine months, and from thence I I proceeded to Wagga W..gga, and then to c Boree and Naraudera for about four months, and then to Mr JenMn's station at Nangus for four montns, and then to ' Melbourne with cattle belonging to one [ Mr Johnstone, and from their to Bendigo, [ where I remained for about two months, and then to the town of Tumut, where I ; remained for about seven months, and from thence to Grundigai, staying there ' about one month, and then returned to "Wagga "Wagga, where I lived for about four years. On the 29th 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 preist of the Church of Rome, inasmuch ', as I must, prior to my marriage, have attended the confessional— the marriage between myself and my wife was solemnised by the" Reverend Fredrick Thomas Brentnall, a minister of the Wesleyan Church, at the residence of Mrs Robinson, of Wagga Wagga, I being then^ married under my assumed 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 leaving for England.