The Bernina
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 02 March 1886 |
| Date | 02 March 1886 |
| Court | Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division |
Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division
Butt, J.
The Bernina
The Sylph 3 Mar. Law Cas. O. S. 37 17 L. T. Rep. N. S. 519 L. Rep. 2 Ad. & Ecc. 24
The BetaUNK 20 L. T. Rep. N. S. 988 2 P. C. 447
Thorogood v. BryanENRUNK 8 C. B. 113 18 L. J. 336, C. P.
Spaight v. TedcastleDID=ASPMELR 44 L. T. Rep. N. S. 589 4 Asp. Mar. Law Cas. 406 L. Rep. 6 App. Cas. 217
Lord Campbell's Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. 93)
Judicature Act 1876 (36 & 37 Vict. c.66), s. 25, sub-sect. 9.
Collision — Loss of life — Action in personam
Thorogood v. Bryan (8 C. B. 115) followed.
MARITIME LAW CASES 577 ADM.] THE BERNINA. [ADM. Tuesday, March 2,1886. (Before BUTT, J.) THE BERNINA. (a) Collision - Loss of life - Action in personam - Both ships to hlame - Contributory negligence - Measure of damages - Lord Campbell's /tf 1846 (9 4r 10 Viol. c. 93)- Judicature Id 1873 (36 £ 37 Viet. c. 66), s. 25, sub-seel. 9. Where passengers are killed in a collision between turn ships for which both are to blame, the deceased are so identified with their carrying ship as to be deemed to be guilty of contributory negligence, and henoe their personal representa tives suing the owners of the non-carrying ship under Lord Campbell's Act can recover nothing. Therogood v. Bryan (8 C. B. 115) followed. The Admirally Court had no jurisdiction prior to the Judicature Act 1873 to entertain claims for loss of life, and there was consequently no rule in the Admiralty Court as to the division of damages in cases of loss of life, and as sect. 25, subsect. 9. of the Judicature Act 1873 has made no alteration in the principles of law as to the division of damages, passengers killed in a collision between two ships can recover nothing where both ships are to blame. THESE were three actions in personam brought under the provisions of Lord Campbell's Act by the personal representatives of three deceased persons, whose deaths had been occasioned by a collision between the two steamships, the Bernina and the Bushire, on Sept. 28,1884. The three deceased persons were respectively the second officer on the Bushire, the first engineer on the Bushire, and a passenger on board the Bushire. The facts were by agreement between the parties set out in a special case, which was as follows : - 1. The first of these actions is an action in personam brought by Elizabeth Helene Armstrong, as administratrix of the estate and effects of her husband, John Hutchinson Armstrong, deceased, against James Mills and others, the owners of the steamship Bernina, to recover on her own behalf and on the behalf of her children damages alleged to have been sustained by them by reason of the death of the said John Hutchinson Arm-strong. 2. The second action is brought in personam by the plaintiff Catherine Owen, as administratrix of the estate and effects of her husband Themas Timothy Owen, deceased, against the said defendants, to recover on her own behalf damages alleged to have been sustained by her by reason of the death of the said Themas Timothy Owen. 3. The third action is brought ha personam by the plaintiff Habiba Harone Toeg, as administratrix of the estate and effects of her son Moses Aaron Toeg, deceased, against the same defendants, to recover on her own behalf damages alleged to have been sustained by her by reason of the death of the said Moses Aaron Toeg. 4. The owners of the said steamship have appeared, and are defendants in all of the said actions. 5. A collision occurred on the 28th Sept. 1884, between the British screw steamship Bernina, belonging to the defendants, and manned and navigated by their servants the master and craw thereof, and the British screw steamship Bushire, of 1011 tons register, belonging to the Persian Gulf Steamship Company Limited, and manned and navigated by their servants the master and crew thereof. The result of such collision was that the Bushire sank, and fifteen persons on board of her at the time of the said collision were drowned. 6. It is admitted that the said collision was caused by the...
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