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Thornton v. Robin Eng. Rep. 881 (1809-1865)

handle is hein.slavery/ssactsengr0136 and id is 1 raw text is: THORNTON V. ROBIN [1837]

application, was not repugnant to the terms of the former decree, which only declared
that Samuel Barrett was entitled to elect, whether he would accept the conditions
offered by the Will of Edward Barrett, when the accounts between the estates should
have been, taken, without defining what those conditions were; apid their Lordships are
of opinion, that one of the conditions necessarily implied by that bequest was, that the
value of the slaves appraised, as well as of the cattle, should be first deducted from the
amount of the debt due from George Goodin Barrett's estate, and that his heirs should
have the option of accepting the release of the balance, as the consideration for the
lands to be purchased, by the heirs of Edward Barrett.
Until' the amount of that balance, therefore, is ascertained, and the Appellant
shall have elected to accept that balance as the price of the estates, the reference to
the Master to settle the draft of the conveyance and release, as asked by the Appellants,
would be premature, and the rest of the order sought would be equally inconsistent
with all the former [438] proceedings in the suit between the parties and the final
adjustment of their mutual rights; since without the full examination of the accounts
between the parties, the amount of the consideration to be paid for the estates con-
veyed cannot be ascertained, neither could it be known to what extent the Re-
spondents would be entitled still to retain their claim as creditors against the estate
of George Goodin Barrett, in respect of the balance not released, the amount of which
must depend upon the comparison of the value of the slaves and cattle, with the
gross amount of the debt. As to this branch of the case their Lordships will advise
Her Majesty to dismiss the appeal, but their Lordships do not think fit to make any
order with respect to the costs of the appeal.
[Mews' Dig. tit. PRACTICE, xiii. JUDGMENTS AND ORDERS, a. Generally; also
tit. RECEIVER, xi. DISCHARGE AND REMOVAL, 2. Practice.]
[439] ON APPEAL FROM THE ROYAL COURT OF THE ISLAND OF JERSEY.
Major-General WILLIAM THORNTON, Lieutenant-governor and Commander-in-
chief of the Island of Jersey, acting for and in the name of His Majesty,-
Appellant; JAMES ROBIN, Esq.,-Respondent * [June 19, 1837].
By the Norman law, which prevails in Jersey, the owners of fiefs and lordships
are entitled to fines, on the death of tenants holding lands within their manors,
and forfeitures on conviction of crimes; and where a corporation sole, or
aggregate, becomes possessed of lands by conveyance from a tenant liable to
such fines and forfeiture, the corporation must indemnify the lord for the loss
of his seignorial rights.
Where, therefore, the lord of a fief, upon the demuise of the Crown without issue,
commenced proceedings against the Lieutenant-governor of the Island, to
vacate the possession of certain land forming the site of the Government-house,
or to pay the lord an indemnity for the loss of his dues, such land having,
according to the laws and customs of Normandy, come into mortmain :-Held,
affirming the decision of the Court of Heritage, and of the Court Royal, that
the lord was entitled to indemnity, and the decree directing the Viscount to
summon a jury, to assess the amount, affirmed.
This was an Appeal against a judgment of the Royal Court of the Island of Jersey,
pronounced in November 1833, in a suit in which the Respondent, as lord of the
manors of Grainville and Petit Rozel, in the Island, sought to compel the Appellant,
the Lieutenant-governor of the Island, acting on behalf of His Majesty, either to
vacate and give up the possession of certain premises and lands called Belmont,
forming the site of the Government-house, and its appendages, in Jersey, on the
ground of their having come into mortmain, according to the laws and cus-[440]-toms
* Present.-Lord Wynford, Mr. Baron Parke, Mr. Justice Bosanquet, and the
Chief Judge of the Court of Bankruptcy [The I-Ion. Thomas Erskine].
881

I MOORE, 438

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