Abbatt v Treasury Solicitor
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | THE MASTER OF THE ROLLS,LORD JUSTICE WINN,LORD JUSTICE CROSS |
| Judgment Date | 24 July 1969 |
| Judgment citation (vLex) | [1969] EWCA Civ J0724-3 |
| Date | 24 July 1969 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
[1969] EWCA Civ J0724-3
In The Supreme Court of Judicature
Court of Appeal
The Master of The Rolls (Lord Denning),
Lord Justice Winn and
Lord Justice Cross
Mr RAYMOND WALTON, Q.C., and Mr. T.D. BAXENDALE (instructed by Messrs. Penningtons and Lewis and Lewis, agents for Messrs. Barker Son & Isherwood, Andover, Hants) appeared on behalf of the 4th defendant, William George Blake; the 5th defendant, Percy Herbert Bale; and the 6th defendant, Ronald Edward Cordery, appellants.
Mr. CA. BRODIE and Miss CHADWICK appeared for, the Respondents Plaintiffs, Philip Dilworth Abbatt, John William Woodhouse, George Robert Summers, deceased, Sidney Edward Knight.
The Treasury Solicitor did not appear.
Mr. E.G. NUGEE appeared on behalf of Mr. Alfred James Denton.
Mr. Edward Ernest Hogan did not appear.
We need not trouble you, Mr. Walton.
In Ludgershall after the first war a club was formed of ex-servicemen called The Old Comrades Club. It afterwards became the British Legion Club and was affiliated to the British Legion. It was mostly composed of ex-servicemen, but had other members who supported their cause. The subscription was 4s. a year. They had a number of honorary members too. They had a set of rules to govern their affairs; but those rules contained no power to amend or change them. They had trustees to hold their property. In the year 1933, they bought two parcels of laud in Ludgershall, one I think for £15 and the other for some £300. In 1950 they bought another piece of ground for £1,000. On that land they have built a club house. It was a social club for the members.
In 1954 there was a falling off in the number of the British Legion Club. Many people in Ludgershall thought the time had come when they ought to bring in the working men. It was proposed, therefore, to change the name of the club from the British Legion Club to The Working Men's Club. But the name was not acceptable to all. So it was proposed to be The Old Castle Club.
There was a special meeting on the 27th April of 1954. It was called to discuss the future. Although the club had some 180 members, only 28 came to the meeting. The matter was put to the meeting, "whether there should be a change". For the change there voted 20; against the change, 5; and 3 abstained. In consequence, the name of the club was altered to The Old Castle Club. They became affiliated to the Workingmen's Institute. They took a model set of rules from the Workingmen's Institute and issued a body of rules called the Ludgershall Old Castle Club. Those rules were sent to all the members who were previously known as members of the British Legion Club. No one took any objection whatsoever to It. The Club was carried on injust the same way with the selfsame members participating. Although 5 members had voted against the change, nevertheless they acquiesced in the majority decision and continued to enjoy the benefits of the club. Everything went on as before — all the activities of the social club — except that the name was changed from the British Legion Club to The Old Castle Club. The only changes were these: Previously the club had been affiliated to the British Legion Association. Now it was affiliated to the Workingmen's Institute. Next, the membership was widened. Instead of being mainly ex-servicemen, it included all those wishing to join in a social club.
All went well. Prom 1954 onwards no one objected. The old trustees in 1955 conveyed the property to new trustees (one of them being an old trustee). In 1960 a question arose. The Old Castle Club were minded to sell a small portion of land for £300. The purchaser's solicitors raised a query on the requisitions as to title; they doubted whether the trustees could give a good title to this property. They suggested that it might have to be distributed amongst the members of the old British Legion Club as at 1954. The County Court Judge suggested a plan which enabled the sale to go through. But the money remains in the hands of solicitors awaiting the determination of the title.
A summons has now been taken out in the Chancery Division, so that all concerned may know where they stand. The Judge has held that the property does not belong to the present members of The Old Castle Club, but that it belongs to the 1954 members of the British Legion Club, including, if any of them have died, to their personal representatives. So that any of those 1954 members can ask for the whole property to be sold. That would mean that The Old Castle Club could come to an end. That would seem to be a deplorable result.
The reason given by the Judge was because he thought that in 1954 there was a fundamental change in the constitution of the club. The new club, he held, is a different entity from the old club. At the end of September 1954 the old club ceased...
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