The Sanctity of Contracts in English Law - College of Social ...

Contracts which Equity Declined to Enforce 21Three eases are cited in illustration of the statementwhich I have quoted from Equity Cases Abridged.In all three, Equity refused to decree specific performanceof the contract. In one, 3 A had contractedto purchase B's estate, pretending that he was buyingit " for one whom B was willing to oblige," andthereby got it " somewhat the cheaper, when intruth he bought it for another." " There had notbeen fair and open dealing " in the matter. In thesecond case, 4 before Lord Chancellor Thurlow, therewas an agreement to purchase an estate. Afterwardsit transpired that the vendor had concealed asubstantial annual outgoing on an obligation torepair a wall to protect the estate from the riverThames. The third case 5 was concerned with anagreement by an attorney to buy property from anold lady of ninety years of age and there were severalsuspicious circumstances appearing. In this last casethe Lord Chancellor would neither decree specificperformance of the agreement against the heir, nor,in a cross suit, order it to be delivered up.A later case illustrative of the same attitude isWebster v. Cecil.'' There a plaintiff claimed specificperformance of a contract to sell property to him for£1,250. The defendant had in the first instancerefused to sell certain property to the plaintiff for£2,000, and then had by mistake written offering thesatisfactory information upon that subject, will not interpose."See also Holliday v. Lockwood [1917] 2 Ch. 50.3 Phillips v. Duke of Bucks (1682) 1 Vern. 227.* Shirley v. Stratton (1785) 1 Bro.Chan.Cas 440.* Green v. Wood (1708) 2 Vern. 632.6(1861) 30 Beav. 62.