Owen and Another against Nickson and Another
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 31 January 1861 |
| Date | 31 January 1861 |
| Court | Court of the Queen's Bench |
English Reports Citation: 121 E.R. 568
IN THE QUEEN'S BENCH.
S. C. 30 L. J. Q. B. 125; 3 L. T. 737; 7 Jur. N. S. 497.
[602] owen and another against nickson and another. Thursday, January 31st, 1861. Detinue for title deeds. Plea, on equitable grounds, that before the detention, and in the lifetime of M. P., since deceased, through whom plaintiffs claimed, the deeds belonged to M. P., who agreed with J. N. to deposit them with him, by way of equitable mortgage to secure the repayment of money lent by him to M. P. That from the time of that agreement to his death, J. N. held the deeds on the terms aforesaid; and died, having appointed defendants executrixes of his will, which they proved. That thereupon the deeds came into, and thence till action brought continued in, the possession of defendants as smch executrixes; and that none of the money lent by J. N. to M. P. had ever been paid. That, therefore, defendants detained and detain the deeds; which was the detention in the declaration mentioned.-Plaintiffs, who were trustees of M. P.'s marriage settlement and also her executors, administered interrogatories to defendants, who, in answer, admitted that they had in their possession a memorandum of a specified date, signed by M. P., agreeing that the deeds should remain in the custody of J. N. till repayment of the moneys advanced by him to M. P.-Held that plaintiffs, ou an affidavit stating that they were entirely ignorant of the said memorandum, and had no means of ascertaining anything of its contents, and that it was material and necessary, in order to prosecute the action, that they should have inspection of it, were entitled to inspection of the memorandum, and also to be furnished by defendants with particulars of the lien or mortgage on the deeds relied upon by them. [S. C. 30 L. J. Q. B. 125; 3 L. T. 737; 7 Jur. N. S. 497.] Manisty had obtained a rule calling upon the defendants to shew cause why the plaintiffs or their attorney should not be at liberty to inspect an alleged memorandum of 6th July, 1836, creating a lien on, or an equitable mortgage of, the deeds sought to be recovered in the action, set up by the defendants in a plea pleaded by them; and why the defendants should not deliver to the plaintiffs or their attorney particulars of the alleged lien or mortgage. 3 EL. t EL. 603. OWEN V. NTCKSON 569 The action was one of detinue, to recover a deed of settlement made on the marriage of the Eev. Robert Pryce and Martha his wife, dated 20th September, 1784, and divers other deeds specified in the declaration. The defendants pleaded, on equitable grounds, that, before the detention in the declaration mentioned, and in the lifetime of one Martha Pryce, now deceased, the said title deeds, papers, parchments and writings [603} belonged to and were the property of the said Martha Pryce, under and through whom the plaintiffs claimed; and she, being indebted to one Jonathan Nickson in certain sums of money which he had before then lent and advanced to her, agreed with the said Jonathan Nickson that he should have and hold the said title deeds, papers, parchments and writings as a security, by...
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