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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Tichborne Dole
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Annual distribution of bread, or nowadays flour, to the parishioners of Tichborne in Hampshire, carried out since the 12C on *Lady Day (March 25). The original bequest to the poor came with an accompanying curse, foretelling doom for the local family of landowners, also called Tichborne, if the dole were ever discontinued. The only attempt to end the charity, in the early 19C, was duly followed by a series of disasters including the famous case of the Tichborne Claimant.
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This resulted from the heir to the estate being lost at sea in 1854. In 1862 his younger brother inherited the property and the baronetcy; but their mother, refusing to believe in her elder son's death, began advertising round the world to find him. Eventually a butcher from Wagga Wagga in Australia convinced her that he was her missing son. A law suit of 1871–2, in which he claimed his inheritance, caused immense interest and brought him many supporters. The jury eventually decided that he was Arthur Orton, born the son of a butcher in Wapping, and he spent ten years in jail for perjury. But the cost of the case had almost ruined the Tichbornes.
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