William Cresswell (Tichborne case)

William Cresswell (c. 1829  – 12 December 1904), was an inmate of the Parramatta Lunatic Asylum, in New South Wales who was considered as a claimant in the Tichborne case.

The first public mentions of William Cresswell in relation to the Tichborne case appear in news reports from 1871. Arthur Orton was said to have associated 'with a man well known in the Queanbeyan district' under that name, and that 'the last that was heard of him is that he was sent... to the Gladesville Hospital as a dangerous lunatic'. Further, 'It was said there was always something mysterious about Cresswell, and even his wife was not acquainted with his previous history'.

In April 1884, Daniel Smith 'agent for the Tichborne Release association' was reported to have tried to secure the release of William Cresswell from the Paramatta Lunatic Asylum 'in order to take him to England under the supposition that he is the very identical Arthur Orton'. In later reports it emerged that Cresswell was being promoted not as Arthur Orton, but as Tichborne himself:

"This person is stated to have a cut over the eye-brow, received on the Pauline from an albatross, mark of a fishhook through the eyelid, indenture in the back of the head, and to correspond in age and height to the real Sir Roger Tichbourne. The person is further described as a Roman Catholic, and has a sacred relic in his possession when admitted. He has a peculiar twitching of the eye- brows, odd ears, speaks French, repeatedly talks of his estates in Hampshire and Dorsetshire."

Cresswell's candidacy was advanced by Sydney lawyer Edward Priestman acting for Rev. Edward Williams, 'a Catholic priest of Sydenmouth, Devonshire (England)'. Priestman found early support in a Victorian Member of Parliament, J.H. Graves, who knew of a detailed story of how Orton and Tichborne (Cresswell) had first met when both working on Gippsland squatting runs. Another source, 'an old resident' Richard Bennison, a Gippsland hotelier, confirmed some of Graves' story in 1895, as he recalled Orton and 'George Smith' newly arrived from Tasmania (and still had hotel records of their visit) and that, around the time Orton assumed the alias Tom Castro, Bennison encountered Smith again, who gave his name as William Cresswell.

In 1897, permission was sought from the Supreme Court to examine Cresswell to determine if 'marks on his body' matched Tichborne's. The process was thorough and:

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