{{italic title ''Ann Paxton Gee v William Pritchard and William Anderson'
(1818) 36 ER 670
is a landmark

judgment Judgement (or judgment) is the evaluation of given circumstances to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. In an informal context, a judgement is opinion expressed as fact. In the context of a legal trial ...

of the British

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...

. The case related to what matters the court could consider, court consistency and the definition of property.

Background

William Gee had been the

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

of Beddington Park in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. William Pritchard was his son and Mrs Ann Gee was Pritchard’s

step-mother A stepmother, stepmum or stepmom is a female non-biological parent married to one's preexisting parent. Children from her spouse's previous unions are known as her stepchildren. A stepmother-in-law is a stepmother of one's spouse. Culture Step ...

. Mrs Gee had been on good terms with her step-son (who was also

Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

Pritchard) for numerous years and had corresponded. She wrote him letters about what she thought of his life and gave him guidance. However, they ceased to be on good terms and Pritchard sought to publish the letters. Pritchard sent the original letters back to Mrs Gee with a letter saying that he was returning the correspondence, but he had secretly made a copy of the originals. However, in a letter dated 14 May 1818, Mrs Gee was notified that Pritchard intended to publish the letters. * Pritchard was rector at Walton on the Hill close to Beddington Park, and many parishioners were also tenants of Mrs Gee. His claim was that he sought to publish not for monetary reasons but that the various actions bought him into disrepute with the parishioners, and he needed to clear his name. * Pritchard claimed that the letters were his sole property, and he was entitled to make such use of them as he might think proper. * Mrs Gee sought an injunction to restrain publication of the letters as she felt the material would "wound her feelings and could have no other effect". The judgment does not give details of the letters beyond stating that they contained details of the Plaintiff’s marriage, but since the Pritchard's birth was the product of an extramarital affair and his father, Mr Gee, had been the local lord of the manor, it is probable that it would have caused considerable harm to the plaintiff it if it had been made public.

Decision

The Court held the case could proceed on the fact of property but not on the idea of feelings or wounded feelings or a violation of a trust or pledge, rather an injury to a property. Eldron LC held that "the

Plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...

(Mrs. Gee) had sufficient property in the original letters to authorise an

injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...

, unless she has by some act deprived herself of it". He quoted Lord Chancellor Hardwicke in ''Pope v Curl'' "for at most the receiver has only a joint property with the writer".Pope v Curl 2 Aitkin 342 He repudiated an argument that the publication of letters would be restrained because their publication would be painful to the feelings of the plaintiff. He said, "The question will be, whether the bill has stated facts of which the Court can take notice, as a case of civil property, which it is bound to protect".

Authorities

The judgment cited: * ''Pope v Curl'' 2 Atk 342 * ''Thompson v Stanhope'' Amb 737 * ''Lady Percaval v Phipps'' 2 Ves & Bw * ''Southey v Sherwood'' 2 Mer 435 * ''Earl of Granard v Dunkin'' 1 Bull and Beat 207 * ''Forester v Waller'' (1741) 4 Burr 2331 The decision has subsequently been Cited in: * '' Prince Albert v Strange'' (1849)

References

English property case law 1818 in British law 1818 in case law Court of Chancery cases