(Left to Right) Wagga and District Historical Society president Geoff Burch, Museum of Riverina curator Michelle Maddison and Charles Sturt University art historian Doctor Sam Bowker holding their new acquisition, the George Cruikshank’s original painting of The Last Man on the Tichborne Jury. Behind is The Great Tichborne Trial painting. Photo: Shri Gayathirie Rajen.
Wagga has added another rare piece of artwork to one of the largest Tichborne collections in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Last Man on the Tichborne Jury, painted by well-known British caricaturist and illustrator George Cruikshank, ridicules the length of The Great Tichborne Trails of the 1870s.
The acquisition valued at $8000 – which further immortalises one of the longest trials in British history – was a collaborative effort between the Museum of Riverina, Wagga and District Historical Society and Charles Sturt University.
The Tichborne fiasco made Wagga famous worldwide when local butcher Tom Castro claimed he was the long-lost Sir Roger Tichborne, heir to a fortune in Hampshire, England.
The butcher’s claim led to a civil trial from 1871 to 1872, followed by a criminal trial from 1873 to 1874 for perjury in the civil matter.
The artwork is an original watercolour and the only known depiction of the Tichborne trial jurors.
It shows the last remaining juror, who has aged and is so hard of hearing that he has an ear trumpet.
Cruickshank mocks the trial with the towers of paper stacked around the juror, implying that the trial is ongoing well into the 20th century.
Famous British caricaturist and illustrator George Cruikshank painted The Last Man on the Tichborne Jury. Photo: Shri Gayathirie Rajen.
The existence of the original painting came through the good fortune of Charles Sturt University art historian Doctor Sam Bowker who alerted the Museum that the artwork was up for sale in New York.
Dr Bowker saw the artwork listed in a catalogue from Jarndyce, an antiquarian bookseller opposite the British Museum in London.
“The catalogue led with the image of the artwork, and I thought, ‘there’s no better place for this than Wagga’,” he said.
Museum curator Michelle Maddison said the Museum was unaware of the existence of an original Cruickshank.
“It feels great finally get our hands on an original piece of history,” she said.
“Unless you have a finger on all the auction houses in the world, it would be very easy to miss.”
Museum of Riverina curator Michelle Maddison in front of another original Tichborne painting, The Great Tichborne Trial, which hangs in the Historic Council Chambers. Photo: Shri Gayathirie Rajen.
Ms Maddison said the process of acquiring the original Cruikshank was straightforward.
She emailed the seller noting Wagga was the home of the Tichborne claimant.
The artwork was on its way to New York and returned to London.
“We had to get it from London to Wagga and it was the first time we’ve made a purchase overseas and had to get it through customs,” she said.
“But the difficult part was getting it from Sydney to Wagga.”
Historical Society president Geoff Burch said the Trials made Wagga famous worldwide and the Society was pleased to support the purchase.
“It is a fantastic story,” he said.
“Looking back on the story, it is amazing they ever believed him [Tom Castro].”
The Museum holds a significant collection of Tichborne material, including one of the few sets of plaster figurines created during the Tichborne trials and a complete set of the Trial at Bar volumes, which belonged to the claimant’s Wagga-based solicitor William Gibbes.
It is also home to The Great Tichborne Trial, a large painting that belongs to the Wagga Art Gallery collection and hangs in the Historic Council Chambers.
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