The Tichborne Claimant - One

The Tichborne Claimant - One

Author: Simone Whitlow December 13, 2025 Duration: 37:10
Quick note all: This episode is approx 29 minutes long… I’ve accidentally left some background music or something muted at the end + will delete that and re-upload once home again…Sorry all, there is no secret Easter egg at the end of this episode, it’s ok to hit stop when the end credits roll… This week On Tales we return to the Australian outback - this is the last time we visit my neighbours to the west of Aotearoa/New Zealand for a while, I promise. The year is 1866, the location Wagga Wagga.  Tom Castro, the town’s Chilean-born butcher has a good life, living in ‘Castro villa’ with his young wife and step-daughter. He enjoys his work, horse riding and his larrikin mates down at the local pub… But then one of those larrikins turns his life upside down with a newspaper article.  Was Tom secretly Baronet Roger Tichbourne, a British peer who disappeared in mysterious circumstances off the coast of Brazil a dozen years earlier? This is part one of a two parter. Apologies ahead of time, I’ll more likely than not have to pause part two till late December/early January to allow for a Christmas episode.   Content warnings: Not too much on this one. Some animal cruelty, and appearance being central to this tale, I have to comment on the protagonist’s appearance in ways not intended to offend… but I may slip up on this one        Sources Include: Robyn Annear’s The Man Who Lost Himself|Rohan McWilliam’s The Tichborne Claimant Support Tales on Patreon for $2 US a month and get access to exclusive content, or Try our 7 Day Free Trial.  Please leave Tales a like and a review wherever you listen. The best way you can support us is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly. Tales of History and Imagination is on the following, so please follow me.    | Facebook |TikTok | Threads | YouTube | Bluesky |        

Simone Whitlow hosts Tales of History and Imagination, a podcast dedicated to unearthing those peculiar, overlooked stories that conventional history books often skip. Each episode feels like a conversation about a fascinating secret, whether it's delving into the life of an obscure figure who tried to alter our very concept of time or examining the panic caused by a legendary beast in eighteenth-century France. You'll encounter the clever pranksters and the enigmatic side characters-the individuals who played brief but unforgettable cameo roles on the world's stage. Rather than re-treading well-worn narratives, this show seeks out perspectives rarely considered, finding the extraordinary within the ordinary march of events. Listening to this podcast is an exercise in curiosity, where major historical moments are often reframed through a surprising, human lens. It’s for anyone who suspects the past is far weirder and more wonderful than they were taught, blending rigorous research with a storyteller's sense of wonder. The result is a consistently engaging mix that sits at the crossroads of history, culture, and sheer human imagination.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Tales of History and Imagination
Podcast Episodes
The Monstrous Life of Zana of Abkhazia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:28
This week we travel to the Kingdom of Abkhazia, a Black Sea land nestled amongst the Caucasus. At a date lost to history, but believed to be around 1860 - hunters trap what they believe is a monster in their bear pit. Th…
The Bagradas Dragon [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:51
This week we travel to the Bagradas River, Tunisia in 256 BC. Rome are in the midst of the Punic wars against Carthage, and are in the process of launching an all out invasion on the Carthaginians. As 14,000 Legionnaires…
Hereward the Wake: The Conqueror [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:32
This week we return to medieval England for part two of our two parter. We finally get to Hereward, but first let’s talk a little about William the Conqueror and the final years of Edward the Confessor’s reign. Welcome t…
Hereward the Wake: The Confessor [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:22
This week we go back to medieval, Anglo Saxon England for a two parter. I’ve got a Tale to tell of an outlaw, a resourceful Wolf’s-head who leads a guerrilla war against a cruel, unjust King - a man some might say robbed…
What Happened to Richard Cox? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:51
This week Tales goes true crime - as we travel West Point Military Academy, January 1950. Cadet Richard Colvin Cox receives a mysterious visitor identified only as ‘George.’ A week later, Richard would disappear without…
The Poe Toaster [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:17
This week, we travel to Baltimore’s Gunner’s Hall - the date October 3rd 1849. A disheveled man is found outside the bar “…in great distress and… in need of immediate assistance.” It turns out the man is none other than…
The Mysterious Mister ZedZed [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:00
This week on Tales we return to Infernal Machines and a shadowy merchant of death who sold them - a man who built a great fortune on the death and suffering of millions. What can we actually say on the life of the myster…
Animals [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:14
This week on Tales of History and Imagination, we travel from The White House to Coney Island’s Luna Park, from the jungles of Cameroon, to the Bosphorus Strait in the age of Justinian… to the battlefields of World War O…
The Namamugi Incident [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:59
In June Tales of History and Imagination is on holiday… Well, technically I’m writing new scripts for the second half of the year. In the meantime I’ve recorded a couple of minisodes, the second on Charles Lennox Richard…
Frau Troffea’s Dance With The Devil [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 7:51
In June Tales of History and Imagination is on holiday… Well, technically I’m writing new scripts for the second half of the year. In the meantime I’ve recorded a couple of minisodes, starting with the Tale of Frau Troff…