Winterbottom v Wright

JurisdictionEngland & Wales
Judgment Date06 June 1842
Date06 June 1842
CourtExchequer

English Reports Citation: 152 E.R. 402

EXCHEQUER OF PLEAS.

Winterbottom
and
Wright

S. C. 11 L. J. Ex. 415. Distinguished, Blackmore v. Bristol and Exeter Railway, 1858, 8 E. & B. 1035. Applied, Alton v. Midland Railway, 1865, 19 C. B. (N. S.) 213; Collis v. Selden, 1868, L. R. 3 C. P. 495. Discussed, Heaven v. Pender, 1883, 11 Q. B. D. 503. Followed, Earl v. Lubbock, [1905] 1 K. B. 293.

[109] wintbrbottom i . wright. Exch. of Pleas. June 6, 1842. - A. contracted with the Postmaster-General to provide a mail-coach to convey the mail bags along a certain line of road ; and B. and others also contracted to horse the coach along the same line. B. and his co-contractors hired C. to drive the coach : - Held, that C. could not maintain an action against A. for an injury sustained by him while driving the coach, by its breaking down from latent defects in its construction. [S. p. 11 L. J. Ex. 415. Distinguished, Blackmorev. Bristol and E-Mter Railway, 1858, 8 E. & B. 1Q35. Applied, Alton v. Midland Railway, 1865, 19 C. B. (N. S.) 213; Cfyllis v. fteldm, 1868, L. R. 3 C. P. 495. Discussed, Heaven v. 1'mde.r, 1883, 11 Q. B. D. 503. Followed, Earl v. LubboeM, [1905J 1 K. B. 293.] Case. The declaration stated, that the defendant was a contractor for the supply of mail-coaches, and had in that character contracted for hire and reward with the Postmaster-G-eneral, to provide the mail-coach for the purpose of conveying the mail-baga from Hartford, in the county of Chester, to Holyhead : That the defendant, under and by virtue of the said contract, had agreed with the said Postmaster General that the said mail-coach should, during the said contract, be kept in a fit, proper, safe, and 10M.&W. 116. WINTERROTTOM V. WRIGHT 403 secure state and condition for the said purpose, and took upon himself, to wit, under and hy virtue of the said contract, the sole and exclusive duty, charge, care, and burden of the repairs, state, and condition of the said mail-coach ; and it had become and was the sole and exclusive duty of the defendant, to wit, under and by virtue of his said contract, to keep and maintain the said mail-coach in a tit, proper, safe, and secure state and condition for the purpose aforesaid : That Nathaniel Atkinson and other persons, having notice of the said contract, were under contract with the Postmaster-General to convey the said mail-coach from Hartford to Holyhead, and to supply horses and coachmen for that purpose, and also, not on any pretence whatever, to use or employ any other couch or carriage whatever than such as should l e so provided, directed, and appointed by the Postmaster-General: That the plaintiff, being a mail-coachman, and thereby obtaining his livelihood, and whilst the said several contracts were in force, having notice thereof, and trusting to and confiding in the contract made between the defendant and the Postmaster-General, and believing that the said coach was in a tit, safe, secure, and proper state and condition for the purpose aforesaid, and not knowing and having no means of knowing to the contrary thereof, hired himself to the said Nathaniel Atkinson and [110] his co-contractors as mail-coachman, to drive and take the conduct of the said mail-coach, which but for the said contract of the defendant he would not have done. The declaration then averred, that the defendant so improperly and negligently conducted himself, and so utterly disregarded his aforesaid contract, and so wholly neglected and failed to perform his duty in this behalf, that heretofore, to wit, oti the Kth of August...

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27 cases
  • London Drugs Ltd. v. Brassart and Vanwinkel, (1992) 18 B.C.A.C. 1 (SCC)
    • Canada
    • Canada (Federal) Supreme Court (Canada)
    • 29 October 1992
    ...Central Market Ltd. (1989), 64 D.L.R.(4th) 167 (B.C.C.A.), consd. [paras. 177, 179]. Winterbottom v. Wright (1842), 10 M. & W. 109; 152 E.R. 402, consd. [paras. 178, Staveley Iron & Chemical Co. v. Jones, [1956] A.C. 627 (H.L.), consd. [para. 187]. Kooragang Investments Pty. Ltd. v.......
  • London Drugs Ltd. v. Brassart and Vanwinkel, (1992) 143 N.R. 1 (SCC)
    • Canada
    • Canada (Federal) Supreme Court (Canada)
    • 29 October 1992
    ...Central Market Ltd. (1989), 64 D.L.R.(4th) 167 (B.C.C.A.), consd. [paras. 177, 179]. Winterbottom v. Wright (1842), 10 M. & W. 109; 152 E.R. 402, consd. [paras. 178, Staveley Iron & Chemical Co. v. Jones, [1956] A.C. 627 (H.L.), consd. [para. 187]. Kooragang Investments Pty. Ltd. v.......
  • Dutton v Bognor Regis Urban District Council
    • United Kingdom
    • Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
    • 17 December 1971
    ...plaintiffs sought to escape from the rigour of this rule. But they were met invariably with the answer given by Baron Alderson in Winterbottom v. Wright (1842) 10 M. & W. at page 115: "If we were to hold that the plaintiff could sue in such a case, there is no point at which such actions wo......
  • Midland Silicones Ltd v Scruttons Ltd
    • United Kingdom
    • House of Lords
    • 6 December 1961
    ...to use reasonable care arose out of a contract, no one could sue or be sued for a breach of that contract except a party to it, see Winterbottom v. Wright (1842) 10 M. & W. 109, Alton v. Midland Rly Co. (1865) 19 C.B., N.S. 213. In the 19th century if a goods owner had sought to sue stevedo......
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8 books & journal articles
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    • United States
    • Full Court Press Regulation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Title CHAPTER 9 Product Liability
    • Invalid date
    ...alleged injury in such circumstances is the alteration and/or abuse of the drug, not the drug itself.").[60] See Winterbottom v. Wright, 10 Mees & W 109, 152 Eng. Reprint 402 (1842).[61] See Thomas v. Winchester, 6 N.Y. 397 (1852) (permitting plaintiff to recover from manufacturer who had m......
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    ...Co., [1998] M.J. No. 396, [1999] 2 W.W.R. 370 (Q.B.)..............................................295– 96 Winterbottom v. Wright (1842), 152 E.R. 402, 10 M. & W. 109 ......................13, 14 Witherell v. Buchanan Estate, [1995] N.B.J. No. 475, 169 N.B.R. (2d) 14 (C.A.) .......................
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    • Irwin Books The Law of Large-Scale Claims Sources of Liability
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    ...Lord Abinger declared that “the 2 For instance Sale of Goods Act , R.S.O. 1990 c. S-1; Sale of Goods Act , R.S.B.C. 1979, c. 370. 3 (1842), 152 E.R. 402 [hereinafter Winterbottom ]. THE LAW OF LARGE-SCALE CLAIMS 14 most absurd and outrageous consequences, to which I can see no limit,” 4 wou......
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    • Hibernian Law Journal No. 21-2022, July 2022
    • 12 July 2022
    ...Crosse v Gardner (1688) Carthew’s King’s Bench Reports 90; Pasley v Freeman (1789) 100 ER 450; Longmeid v Holliday (1851) 155 ER 752. (1842) 152 ER 402. Autonomy and the Law of the Faster At the turn of the 20th Century, the ad hoc decision making of judges in the common law had created a l......
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