Blackburn v Blackburn
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 22 October 1827 |
| Date | 22 October 1827 |
| Court | High Court |
English Reports Citation: 172 E.R. 362
IN THE COURTS OF KING'S BENCH AND COMMON PLEAS
Before Mr. Justice (lasclee Oct 22d, 1827. blackburn v. blackburn. (Communications made to a member of a dissenting congregation, respecting an individual about to be appointed a minister of that congregation, are privileged communications, and cannot be made the subject of an action by such individual. But if, in consequence of those communications, a printed circular be sent round, containing contradictions of them, and reflecting on the motives of the party who made them, and such party afterwards write a letter, and send it to the writer of the circular, in which, after repeating the communications, he adds other statements, which he acknowledges he cannot prove, such letter is not privileged, but will make him liable in damages, though it be specially found by a Jury that he was not actuated by express malice. In such an action, a letter written to the defendant, containing a statement of the facts upon which he founded his charges, is receivable in evidence on his behalf, to shew the bona fides with which he acted ) [Subsequent proceedings with annotations, 4 Bing. 395 ] Libel. The first count in the declaration stated, that the plaintiff, before, and at the time of committing the grievances complained of, was minister of a certain congregation of Protestant Dissenters, assembling for divine worship at a meetinghouse in Bethnal Green, commonly called the Rev. John Kello's Meeting-House, &c ; and that certain rumours and reports having been circulated, injurious to the character of the plaintiff, a certain letter and statement had been and were published and circulated by the Rev. John Kello, minister, and Robert Garrett and John King, deacons, of the said congregation \ in which [147] said statement there was con- 3 CAB. & P. 148. BLACKBURN V. BLACKBURN 363 tained, kc. (a), yet the defendant, well knowing, &c., but greatly envying, &c , and to cause it to be suspected and believed that the plaintift had been guilty of forgery, and of the offences and misconduct thereinafter mentioned, and to subject lam to the penalties, fcr , falsely, wickedly, and maliciously, did compose and write, and cause and procure to be composed and written, a certain, false, scandalous, malicious, and defamatory bbe^in the form of a letter, addressed to the Rev. John Kello, Robert Garrett, and John King, &c ; in one part of which said libel there was contained, &c. (b). And ib another part of which said libel there was contained, fec. (c). And the defendant, further contriving, £c , inclosed the said libel in an envelope directed to the said Robert Garrett, &c , and then and there seat the said libel so inclosed as aforesaid, to the said Robert Garrett. and thereby then and there published the same There were thiee other counts, setting out, in different ways, different parts of the libel. The defendant pleaded, first, Not guilty, and then two special pleas of justification, one affirming the truth of that part of the libel which was stated in the declaration, as charging the plaintiff with forgery, and the other of that part which charged him with fraudulent conduct The replication was, de injutiu, ; and issue was takes npon it. The facts of the case were as follow :- The defendant, Mr. John Blackburn, was the uncle of the plaintiff, Mr. Samuel Blackburn, and resided at No. 126 in the Mmones, [148] London In the year 1814, at which time the plaintiff was a dissenting minister, near Canterbury, he became indebted to a person there, named Blickley, and being about to leave that part of the country, gave and indorsed- to him a bill in the following form - " £20 ; 9 : 0. ^ London, July 28th, 1814 '* Two months after date, pay po" to me, or my order, the sum of twenty pounds, nine shillings, ^p^ g sterling. £_; 5 saml. blackburn. To Mr. Saoil. Blackburn, ^ | ^ 126, Minones. * The plaintiff then went to a place called Hempstead, and, just before the bill became due, inclosed a sum of twenty pounds to the defendant, accompanied by the following letter :- " Hempstead, September 28th, 1814 " Dear Sir,- Previously to my leaving Canterbury, I had occasion to give a bill for £20, 9s., which I made payable at your house Inclosed, you will receive £20. I ttill be obliged by your takiig up the bill, and taking care of it till I come to town, when I will pay you the 9s. Please to present my best respects, &c , I hope to be able to spend a few days in town before long, when [ shall have the pleasure of seeing you. I remain, &c., samuel blackburv." The nine shillings were never paid About a year after the writing of the above letter, some family disputes arose , and the plaintiff and defendant had nn intercourse till the meeting alluded to in the plaintiff's circular In the year 1826, the plaintiff was about to be appointed assistant to the Rev. Mr. Kello, in the Bethnal-Green Meeting, when some statements to the same effect with some of those in [149] the libel, were made by a Mr. Sturtevant, a member of the congregation, for which an action was commenced against him, but discontinued, on his making an apology. It appearing that Mr Sturtevant had received his information from the defendant, a aieeting took place upon the subject, at which the bill of exchange was produced, (ft) Here was set out, with innuendoes, the printed statement, as it will appear in the account of the evidence, commencing with the words, " It was now that unpleasant rumours,"...
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