Edward Vaughan Kenealy

Edward Vaughan Hyde Kenealy (July 2, 1819 - April 16, 1880) was an Irish barrister, author, poet, and religious visionary, described as the Twelfth Messenger of God and hailed as the Imaum Mahidi by his follower C. W. Hillyear.

In his legal career, Kenealy became best-known for his involvement in the Tichborne Case (1873-74), during which he served as counsel to a man, identified as Arthur Orton, who claimed to be Sir Roger Tichborne, achieving great notoriety for his confrontational style, which saw him mount routine attacks on witnesses and the judges, a pattern of behaviour that ultimately led to his being disbenched and disbarred in the aftermath of the trial. Despite being ostracised by his professional peers, Kenealy achieved a measure of public celebrity from the trial, which prompted him to run for a seat in the British Parliament in a 1875 by-election for the Stoke-upon-Trent borough, a race that he won handily; however, Kenealy failed to secure support for his political causes, including a motion to launch a government inquiry into the Tichborne Trial, and subsequently lost his re-election bid in 1880 as public interest in the case dwindled.