Ex parte Briggs
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 05 May 1859 |
| Date | 05 May 1859 |
| Court | High Court |
English Reports Citation: 120 E.R. 1141
IN THE COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH AND EXCHEQUER CHAMBER
S. C. 28 L. J. Q. B. 272.
[881] Ex parte briggs. Thursday, May 5th, 1859. The right of a ratepayer to inspect or take copies from the parish accounts is only a private right: and, to entitle him to a mandamus ordering such inspection to be granted, he must shew grounds of a special and public nature in support of bis application.-The affidavit in support of an application for a mandamus to the churchwardens of a parish, commanding them to permit the applicant, a ratepayer, to inspect and take extracts from their books, after setting out several requests by the applicant to the churchwardens, for leave to inspect the books and copy the estimates for a particular church rate, and a refusal by the churchwardens, stated generally that these requests were made " bona fide, and for the purpose of duly enabling" the applicant " and others of the parishioners and ratepayers to take part in the proceedings of the ""vestry of the said parish, and that he and they might properly understand and act upon the business to be brought before it, and not for any unlawful object." The affidavit did not state that the rate in question, or any rate, was about to come under discussion. Held, that the affidavit did not shew sufficient grounds for a mandamus. [S. C. 28 L. J. Q. B. 272.] Mellor had obtained a rule calling on the churchwardens of the parish of Daventry, in the county of Northampton, to shew cause why a mandamus should not issue "commanding them to permit E. A. Briggs to inspect and take extracts from the churchwardens' books of the said parish in the custody or under the control of the said churchwardens." From the affidavit on which the rule was obtained it appeared that, on 10th March, 1859, E. A. Briggs, a parishioner of Daventry and a ratepayer, accompanied by J. M. Eedhouse, also a parishioner and ratepayer, called on T. Barrett, one of the churchwardens, and requested permission to examine the churchwardens' books, and also to take a copy of a portion of one of them : and that Barrett refused to permit him to do either. The affidavit further stated that Briggs subsequently called three times, accompanied on each occasion by Redhouse, on Captain Stopford, the other churchwarden, for the same purpose: and eventually wrote him the following letter. "Daventry, March 31st, 1859. "Sir,-Having called three times at your residence, with Mr. Eedhouse, during your absence, to request that, in [882] your official capacity as churchwarden, you would permit us to inspect the churchwardens' books and copy the estimates for the church rate submitted to the vestry meeting on Easter Monday last, I now write to beg that you will favour us with either an interview, at a...
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