Claimant Place, George Town, Penang

EarthDocumentary World Budget Travel Guide

Compare Hotel Room Rates from different Booking Sites

Claimant Place roadsign (7 July, 2010)
© Timothy Tye using this photo

Claimant Place or Pesara Claimant is a short street in George Town. It runs from the intersection with Kampung Kolam and Carnarvon Street on one end to the junction with Rope Walk on the other. The southern side of Claimant Place is occupied by the Central Police Station while the northern side is taken up by shophouses and part of the Campbell Street Market.

Claimant Place refers not after a person's name, but to a name he was claiming for. The person in question is one Arthur Orton. An under-educated butcher's son born in 1834, Orton had left England to seek his fortune in different parts of the world including Chile, Tasmania and finally Victoria, Australia, where he had passed himself off as Thomas Castro - taking on the name of a Castro family which he befriended in 1849.

In 1865 Arthur Orton / Thomas Castro chanced upon a newspaper advertisement. It was placed by one Lady Tichborne seeking information on the fate of her son Roger Charles Tichborne, who was missing at sea since 1854.

Realising there is a fortune to be made, Orton consulted lawyer William Gibbes claiming that he was the missing Roger Tichborne. Although harbouring a degree of scepticism, Gibbes encouraged Orton to respond to the advertisement. This led to a meeting with Lady Tichborne and the Tichborne clan in Paris, France.

Although members of the Tichborne family recognised Orton to be an imposter, Lady Tichborne was somehow adamant that he was indeed her son, despite little physical resemblance, and that Orton's diction put him away as one of limited education. Yet there were sufficient people who were convince that he is the real thing, that he was able to get financial support to pursue his claim, which continued even after Lady Tichborne passed away in 1868.

Eventually in 1874 Orton was found guilty of perjury and sentenced to 14 years in jail, during which time he put on a lot of weight, reaching 171 kg. Owing to good behaviour, he was freed in 1884, after which he continued to press his claim, and even styled himself as Sir Roger Tichborne, carrying his claim to his grave on, ironically, April Fool's Day of 1898.

The claimant's case was followed with much interest throughout the British empire, and it was through this case that Claimant Place got its name.

Getting there

Take the Rapid Penang Free Shuttle Bus to Station No. 15 (Kampung Kolam). From there, walk a short distance to Claimant Place.

Click for list of Streets of George Town

Claimant Place Location Map

Click here if you cannot see the map.

View Claimant Place in a larger map

Claimant Place (7 July, 2010)
© Timothy Tye using this photo

Get the best rates when booking Penang hotels

Before booking a hotel room, make sure you are getting the lowest price for it. Different hotel booking websites offers the same room at different prices. If you stick with one site all the time, you could be paying more for the same room. Now why pay more?

The form below is a Research Engine. It doesn't take bookings. Instead it lets you find the hotel booking website that offers the room you want at the lowest price. You can see and compare what different sites are offering, and then click to choose the one with the best price. Do this, and you're guaranteed to save a whole lot of money on your room reservations!

Find a hotel

New York City
Bangkok
Amsterdam

Guests:

Rooms:

Great Travel Deals Wego.com

Flight Checker

Our Flight Checker helps travelers compare flights and get the lowest fare for their trips. If you're flying somewhere, use our Flight Checker to compare the rates from different airlines. To use it, enter where you will be flying from, where you will be flying to, your departure date and return date. Select the number of passengers, and then click search.

Our engine will return you a list of possible flights that you can take. You can compare the fare of different airlines for your trip. Click on your selected airline, and we transfer you to the airline website.

Return to Penang Travel Tips homepage

My message introducing God to all the world: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO TIM

Penang Travel Tips is researched and written by Timothy Tye, universally known as Tim. The text is the copyright of Timothy Tye, and may not be copied for commercial use or re-published in another website without the author's permission. Information provided is in goodwill and is believed to be correct and up-to-date at time of writing. Photographs on this website are the copyright of the author and may not be reused without prior permission. For commercial licensing of photographs, read the licensing terms.