DE COSSE judgment of a foreign Court may be impeached on the ground that it has been irregularly or unduly obtained: Sinclair v. RATHBONE. Fraser (1). In Galbraith v. Neville (2), BULLER, J., said, "The doctrine which was laid down in Sinclair v. Fraser has always been considered as the true line ever since; namely, that the foreign judgment shall be primâ facie evidence of the debt, and conclusive until it be impeached by the other party." [308] (CHANNELL, B., referred to Cowan v. Braidwood (3).) That was an action on a Scotch decree, and the defence was that the defendant was not within the jurisdiction of the Court, and had no notice of the proceedings; but the plea was held bad for want of allegations showing that the decree was not binding on him. In Phillips v. Hunter (4), EYRE, Ch. J., speaking of a foreign judgment, said, "We examine it as we do all other considerations of promises, and for that purpose we receive evidence of what the law of the foreign State is, whether the judgment is warranted by that *law." (He also referred to Tarleton v. Tarleton (5) and 2 Smith's Lead. Cas. 638.) MARTIN, B.: We are all of opinion, that this question is so concluded by the authorities that it is impossible for us to decide contrary to them, and the case must go to a court of error. I may observe that the question does not come before me for the first time: for many years past I have had occasion to consider it. CHANNELL, B., concurred. WILDE, B.: There is no book of pleading in which such pleas can be found. Judgment for the plaintiff. 1861. Jan. 23. [308] GEORGE HAYWARD v. ISABELLA RAW AND BATES (6). GEORGE HAYWARD . CRUDEN. (6 H. & N. 308-329; S. C. 30 L. J. Ex. 178; 4 L. T. N. S. 519.) A lord of a manor cannot recover a fine not certain, unless it is reasonable, and assessed and demanded. A surrenderee of copyhold premises has a right to have in his ad 20 How. St. Tr. 468. Doug. 6, n. 56 R. R. 561 (1 Man. & G. 882). (6) Fraser V. Mason (1883) 11 Q. B. D. 574, 52 L. J. Q. B. 643; Blackmore v. White [1899] 1 Q. B. 293, 68 L. J. Q. B. 180. mittance a description of the premises corresponding with that in An entry by a steward of a manor in his book of the admission of In the first-mentioned case, the writ issued on the 4th of August, 1859, and was specially indorsed as follows: "The following are the particulars of the plain-) tiff's claim. The amount of fines due from the defendants to the plaintiff as lord of the manor of Rishangles, with its members, in the county of Suffolk, the full particulars of which have been already delivered. £122 0 0" The plaintiff declared for money payable by the defendants to the plaintiff as lord of the manor of Rishangles, in the *county of Suffolk, for fines due and of right payable by the defendants in respect of the surrender of certain copyhold tenements. Plea: Never indebted. The cause came on for trial before Pollock, C. B., at the London sittings after Michaelmas Term, 1859, when a verdict was, by consent, entered for the plaintiff for 601., subject to the opinion of the Court on the following case: The plaintiff has been, since the 16th October, 1856, and still is, lord of the manor of Rishangles, in the county of Suffolk, and Frederick Hayward has been since that time, and still is, his steward. The defendant Isabella Raw, Eliza the wife of the defendant Thomas Bates, and Sarah the wife of Thomas Conway, were the three daughters of Joseph Raw, who was the elder brother of Mary Raw, afterwards Mary Spooner, widow. The said Sarah died in the lifetime of her father, Joseph Raw; and Joseph Raw died in the lifetime of his sister, Mary Spooner. Mary Spooner (formerly Mary Raw, spinster), a copyhold tenant of the said manor, died intestate as to the copyhold tenements mentioned in the declaration, to which she was admitted at a court held for the said manor on the 4th January, 1822, upon the absolute surrender of one Charles Keen; and the defendant Isabella, the said Eliza, and Thomas Conway the younger, an infant, and the eldest son of the said Thomas Conway and Sarah his wife, are the co-heiresses and heir of the said Mary Spooner. By a contract, dated the 31st October, 1825, and made between Mary Spooner (then Mary Raw, spinster), of the one part, and John Raw, deceased, of the other part, and the last will and testament of John Raw, the defendant Isabella, the said Eliza, HAYWARD v. RAW. [*309] and Thomas Conway the infant, became trustees of the said copyhold tenements for Thomas Raw, his heirs and assigns. William Watson, by an order of the Court of Chancery, made the 2nd December, 1856, was, on the petition of Thomas Raw, appointed in the place of Thomas Conway the younger, to convey his interest in the said copyhold tenements to Thomas Raw. Thomas Raw directed the surrender hereinafter mentioned of the said copyhold tenements to be made to the use of Alexander Cruden, his heirs and assigns for ever, at the will of the lord and according to the custom of the said manor, upon trust for the said Thomas Raw, his heirs and assigns. On the 16th December, 1856, P. Long, the solicitor for the surrenderors and for Thomas Raw, sent a letter to F. Hayward, the steward of the said lord, containing the following passage: "Manor of Rishangles. I presume I or my agent may take a surrender as your deputy in this manor, to Mr. Thomas Raw." On the 17th December, 1856, the said steward sent the following answer: "In reply to your letter received this morning, I beg to inform you that you or your agent may take surrender in this manor as deputy steward on payment of fine and deputation fees." On the 30th December, 1856, the said P. Long sent to the steward the following letter in answer: "I propose to take the surrender for Miss Isabella Raw, Mrs. Bates and her husband, and Mr. Watson (appointed by the Court to convey and surrender for the minor Thomas Conway), as coheirs of Mary Raw, deceased, to a trustee for Mr. Thomas Raw. "They will pay a fine on such surrender, and the usual fees on surrender only, admittance being unnecessary. Mr. Raw's trustee, it is proposed, shall be admitted, and most probably he will enfranchise. Be kind enough to let me know what fine you will require on the surrender by the co-heirs." On the 14th March, 1857, the said P. Long sent the following letter to the steward: "I send your surrenders herein; please return me copy with your receipt for the original. I have indorsed it, so that you have only to sign it. The surrender sets out all the facts of the case, and will be in itself instructions for the admission of Mr. Cruden. I shall be glad to have your views as to the account of fines, as also the enfranchisement." The surrender, dated the 13th February, 1857, was duly made and executed by the defendants, Isabella Raw and Thomas Bates and Eliza the wife of the defendant Thomas Bates, the said William Watson as trustee, and the said Thomas Raw, and was sent with P. Long's letter of the 14th March, 1857, to and HAYWARD received by the said steward (1). (1) A copy of the surrender was set out in an appendix to the case, and was as follows: The Manor of Rishangles, with its Members. "Whereas, Mary Spooner, widow, formerly Mary Raw, spinster, a copyhold tenant of the said manor, lately died intestate as to the hereditaments, copyhold of the said manor, to which she stood admitted at the time of her decease and hereinafter expressed to be surrendered. And whereas Isabella Raw of &c., and Eliza the wife of Thomas Bates of &c., formerly Eliza Raw, spinster, two of the daughters of Joseph Raw formerly of &c., the elder brother of the said Mary Spooner, and who died in her lifetime, and Thomas Conway the younger, an infant of the age of fifteen years, and the eldest son of Thomas Conway of &c. and Sarah his wife, who was also a daughter of the said Joseph Raw, deceased, and died in his lifetime, are the co-heiresses and heir of the said Mary Spooner, deceased. And whereas, under and by virtue of a certain contract or agreement, bearing date on or about the 31st day of October, 1825, and made between the said Mary Spooner (then Mary Raw, spinster), of the one part, and John Raw therein described of the other part, and of the last will and testament of the said John Raw, the said Isabella Raw, Eliza Bates and Thomas Conway the younger have become trustees of the said copyhold hereditaments for · Thomas Raw of &c., his heirs and assigns. And whereas by an order of the High Court of Chancery made on or about the 2nd day of December last past, in the matter of the estate of Mary Spooner, deceased, and in the matter of The Trustee Act, 1850,' it *was on the petition of the said Thomas Raw ordered that William Watson of &c., in the petition named, be appointed in the place of the said infant, Thomas Conway the younger, to convey all such share as was then vested in the said infant, Thomas Conway the younger, of and in the freehold and copyhold hereditaments and premises comprised in the said contract of the 31st day of October, 1825, and in the devise to the said petitioner, Thomas Raw, contained in the will of the aforesaid John Raw, to the petitioner Thomas Raw, or as he should direct, for all the estate and interest of R.R.-VOL. CXXIII. the said infant, Thomas Conway, therein. Now be it remembered, that on the several days expressed in the captions at foot hereof, the said Isabella Raw, the said Thomas Bates and Eliza his wife and the said William Watson came before the several persons whose signatures are written to the said respective captions, and whose names, residences and descriptions are written at foot hereof, and being respectively deputy stewards, for the purposes hereinafter expressed, of Frederick Hayward, chief steward of the said manor; and she the said Eliza Bates having been by the deputy steward in that behalf expressed, first examined separate and apart from her said husband, touching and concerning her free and voluntary consent to the making and passing the surrender hereinafter expressed, and freely and voluntarily consenting thereto as by law required, and having satisfied to the lord his fine, did out of court in pursuance of the premises and by the direction of the said Thomas Raw (testified by his signature at the foot hereof) and in consideration of the sum of 300l., the apportioned part of the consideration money or sum of 600l. to the said Mary Spooner, deceased, paid as in the aforesaid contract mentioned, and the residue whereof is apportioned as the consideration money in respect of certain freehold hereditaments, as mentioned in a conveyance thereof, bearing even date herewith, &c.; and also in consideration of 10s. to each and every of them the said Isabella Raw &c. paid by the said Alexander Cruden at or before the passing the surrender hereinafter expressed, the receipt of which sum is hereby acknowledged, and as to the said William Watson in pursuance of and obedience to the said order, surrender out of their and each and every of their hands into the hands of the lord of the said manor by the hands and acceptance of me the said steward, by the rod, according to the custom of the said manor, one messuage or cottage with four and a half acres of land of the tenement Millard, with a certain way, called Ingham Way on the part of the east; and one acre of land formerly built of the tenement Bases; and three acres of land, with a certain piece of pasture, containing half an acre, lying together between lands of the rectory of Rishangles on the part of the east, and lands called Bases on 34 RAW. [ *312, n. ] On the 23rd April, 1857, the steward sent a letter to the *said P. Long inclosing the lord's claim for fines (1) and his own for fees. To these fines and fees, P. Long, on behalf of Thomas Raw, objected on the grounds stated in a letter (2) of the 16th May, 1857. According to the custom of the manor, a fine is due and payable to the lord on admission of the heir, and the amount of such fine is arbitrary. In copy of court rolls of the said manor the following entry appears: [315] "4th May, 1792. John Butt as nephew and heir of Timothy Butt surrenders, without admission, to Lady Harland. Fine paid on surrender by John Butt the nephew without admission Fine for Lady Harland. £ s. d. 22 6 3 22 6 9" In the months of June and September, 1857, the said steward the part of the west, one head whereof abutteth upon the common highway towards the south, and the other head [*313, n.] upon a meadow of the lord, called Ingham Meadow, in part, and upon a wood of the lord towards the north; and one messuage formerly built, and three acres of the tenement Bases, lying in Rishangles between lands of the lord of this manor, sometimes since in the tenure of Henry Mithall in right of his wife, called Shortland, on the part of the west, and abutting upon the highway towards the south, and upon the customary lands formerly in the tenure of Richard Chittoke, afterwards of Thomas Hasell, towards the north, which premises are holden by copy of court roll of the said manor, and which Charles Keen took up to him and his heirs with other hereditaments at a court held for the said manor on the 1st day of August, 1812, and the said Mary Spooner, deceased (by her then name of Mary Raw), took up to her and her heirs at a court held on the 4th day of January, 1822; and the reversion and reversions, remainder and remainders, yearly and other rents, issues, and profits thereof; and also all the estate, right, title, interest, inheritance, use, trust, property, possession, power, claim and demand whatsoever both at law and in equity or otherwise howsoever of them the said Isabella Raw, Thomas Bates and Eliza his wife, and William Watson, and also of the said Thomas Conway the younger, the infant, of, in, to, or out of the said hereditaments and premises hereby |