References: [1853] EngR 767, (1853) 2 El & Bl 641, (1853) 118 ER 907
Links: Commonlii
Coram: Lord Campbell LC
A landlord evicted a tenant who had failed to pay any rent for twenty years. Statute provided that a house could not be repossessed simply by exercising a right of entry.
Held: Lord Campbell LC, giving the judgment of the Court of Queen’s Bench on appeal from a judgment given at assizes, held that entry could be made ‘by stepping on any corner of the land in the night time and pronouncing a few words, without any intention or wish to take possession.’ However, where possession was taken with an intention to possess, then ‘whether possession was retained by the landlord an hour or a week must for this purpose [i.e. taking possession other than by mere entry] be immaterial.’
This case is cited by:
- Cited – Zarb and Another -v- Parry and Another CA (Bailii, [2011] EWCA Civ 1306, [2011] WLR (D) 331, WLRD)
The parties disputed the position of the boundary between their neighbouring properties. The appellant Z had succeeded in establishing that the the boundary was as they decribed on paper, but the respondents had succeeded in their claim for adverse . .