Legal Subject: Contracts and Obligations

Case Date Legal Subject Abstract
Alexander v. Beaumont 1774 Contracts and Obligations, Breach of Contract Robert Alexander hired John Beaumont in 1770 to mine the coal on Alexander's property in Blackhouse and Boghall in Ayrshire. Under the contract, Beaumont was to deliver coal from Alexander's property to the harbor of Ayr. Beaumont brought the coal to the harbor, but he claimed that there were no people who could receive on Alexander's behalf. Beaumont applied to William Alexander, the brother of Robert, for instructions. According to Beaumont, William directed him to offer the coal to the Newton Company or a third party, or to "bing" the coals "on the hill." The parties disagreed over the expenses incurred for coal binged on the hill. Alexander also accused Beaumont of failing to separate the bings of great coal from the bings of pan wood. Alexander believed that some coal caught fire because of Beaumont's alleged failure to separate great coal from pan wood.
Carron Company v. Forth and Clyde Navigation 1772 Contracts and Obligations, Canals The Carron Company, along with various other parties, united to form a company called the Company of Proprietors of the Forth and Clyde Navigation. The company proposed to construct a canal to connect the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. The first plan was to use the River Carron to connect the two firths. The Carron Company supported this initial plan, but objected to a revised strategy that would put the east end of the canal directly of the Firth of Forth, rather than on the River Carron as originally proposed. The Carron Company argued that this new route would bypass its iron works mille and petitioned its partners for an agreement to dig a side canal to the River Carron. The Carron Company claimed that this agreement was made, and they sought a Court order to enforce this agreement.
Goodall v. Fleming 1766 Contracts and Obligations The Pursuer, Walter Goodall, claimed that the Defender, Robert Fleming, owed Goodall money for the work Goodall did in preparing a new edition of Fordun's History of Scotland for publication. Robert Fleming, a printer, was hired by Robert Freebairn in 1744 to publish this new edition, and Freebairn hired Goodall under contract to prepare the book for press. Goodall claimed that although his employment was arranged under contract, he is still owed money for the immense additional labor he put into the project that was not accounted for at the time of the original contract, including correcting the book for press, compiling the introduction, compiling the indexes, and working on the dedication and preface. After the project began, Robert Fleming acquired the right to the publication from Freebairn, believing that from the number of subscriptions that this would be a profitable endeavor. Goodall continued work on the project under the same conditions agreed upon with Freebairn. Goodall brought action against Fleming in the Court of Session to obtain the balance he claimed was due to him from Fleming. Fleming claimed that since Goodall's contract was with Freebairn, Fleming did not owe Goodall the additional balance. Further, Fleming argued that since Goodall carried out the work with significant delays and did not finish until 1759, Fleming lost many subscriptions and no longer owed Goodall the additional balance. Goodall claimed that he was sorry to lay this case before the Court of Session because "it publishes to the World at what a very low Price learned Labour is estimated in Scotland."
John Low v. Managers of the Weaver-trade in Brechin 1767 Contracts and Obligations, Trades While pursuer John Low was a weaver in Brechin, the weaver-trade entered into a contract to purchase a large quantity of victual annually from Sir Alexander Ramsay-Irvine of Balmain. The weavers divided the victual among themselves. After Low moved to Dundee, he sought to retain his portion of the victual. The weavers in Brechin refused, and Low brought suit.