William Cresswell (Tichborne case)

William Cresswell (c. 1829  – 12 December 1904),[n 1] was an inmate of the Parramatta Lunatic Asylum, in New South Wales who was considered as a claimant in the Tichborne case.

[4] 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.

"[10]While the evidence was not entirely conclusive, a news report of the time noted that 'Where the famous tattoo mark was, on the left forearm, there is a scar, consistent with theory that it was destroyed by searing'.

[13] Cresswell maintained that he was not Tichborne,[14] and the Commission agreed,[15] with one dissenting opinion,[16] but it did find that he was 'of sufficiently sound mind to warrant his release from the Asylum'.

[17] While the New South Wales Legislative Assembly supported the Commission's call for Cresswell's release, in 1902, during a visit by a journalist, he was still an inmate at the asylum,[18] and he remained there until his death in 1904.