English Contract Law General Principles

The application of the rule can be seen in Felthouse v Bindley. Paul Felthouse brought an action against the auctioneer (Bindley) for conversion on the basis that it had sold a property that had belonged to him. The property in question was a horse, which had originally belonged to the claimant’s nephew, John Felthouse. Bindley was engaged by the nephew to sell his farming stock by auction. Around the time the nephew

The uncle’s action against the auctioneer failed. He never had any property rights…

“It is clear that there was no complete bargain …and it is also clear that the uncle had no right to impose upon the nephew a sale of his horse for 30l. 15s. unless he chose to comply with the condition … The nephew might, no doubt, have bound his uncle to the bargain by writing to him: the uncle might also have retracted his offer at any time before acceptance. It stood an open offer: and so things remained until the [date] the nephew was about to sell his farming stock by auction. The horse in question being catalogued with the rest of the stock, the auctioneer (the defendant) was told that it was already sold. It is clear, therefore, that the nephew in his own mind intended his uncle to have the horse at the price which he (the uncle) had named,—30l. 15s.: but he had not communicated such his intention to his uncle, or done anything to bind himself. Nothing, therefore, had been done to vest the property in the horse in the plaintiff …[at the time] the horse was sold by the defendant.”(81)…