endeavoured to get
rid of him by poison; and an attempt having been made upon his life,
Annesley resolved once more to risk an escape, although the time of
his servitude had almost expired.

On this occasion he was successful; and having made his way in a
trading ship to Jamaica, got on board the "Falmouth," one of his
Majesty's ships, and declared himself an Irish nobleman. His arrival,
of course, created a great stir in the fleet, and the affair came to
the ears of Admiral Vernon, who, having satisfied himself that his
pretensions were at least reasonable, ordered him to be well treated,
wrote to the Duke of Newcastle about him, and sent him home to
England. He arrived in October 1741. His uncle Richard had in the
meantime succeeded, through default of issue, to the honours of
Anglesea, as well as those of Altham, and became seriously alarmed at
the presence of this pretender on English soil. At first he asserted
that the claimant, although undoubtedly the son of his deceased
brother, was the bastard child of a kitchen wench. He next tried to
effect a compromise with him, and subsequently endeavoured to procure
his conviction on a charge of murder. It is also said that assassins
were hired to kill him. But it is certainly true that Annesley having
accidentally shot a man near Staines, the Earl of Anglesea spared
neither pains nor money to have him condemned. He was tried at the Old
Bailey, and being acquitted by the jury, proceeded to Ireland to
prosecute his claim to the Altham estates. On his arrival at Dunmain
and New Ross, he was very warmly received by many of the peasantry.
His first attempt to secure redress was by an action at law. An action
for ejectment was brought in the Court of Exchequer in Ireland for a
small estate in the county of Meath, and a bill was at the same time
filed in the Court of Chancery of Great Britain for the recovery of
the English estates.

In Trinity term 1743, when everything was ready for a trial at the
next ensuing assizes, a trial at bar was appointed on the application
of the agents of the Earl of Anglesea. The case began on the 11th of
November 1743, at the bar of the Court of Exchequer in Dublin, being,
as is noted in Howell's _State Trials_, "the longest trial ever known,
lasting fifteen days, and the jury (most of them) gentlemen of the
greatest property in Ireland, and almost all members of parliament." A
verdict was found for the claimant, with 6d. damages and 6d. costs.