The Tichborne Claimant: Person identification following very long intervals

An account is given of the nineteenth-century case of the Tichborne Claimant, in which someone purporting to be Sir Roger Tichborne, a missing heir, arrived in England from Australia 13 years after Sir Roger had been assumed drowned at sea. Many people, including Lady Tichborne, Sir Roger's mother, positively identified him. Others insisted that he was an impostor. A civil court and a criminal trial each found against The Claimant for various reasons, but the question of The Claimant's true identity remains open to this day. The case of the Tichborne Claimant is used to illustrate issues in identification that are of contemporary interest. The particular matter of how faces change over time is briefly discussed.