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79
Of the total claims made six were pressed (which in the aggregate
would have involved an expenditure between £400 and £500),— all
were resisted, but two claimants persisted with their claims, and legal
proceedings had to be taken. In the first of these the magistrate
decided in the Council's favour, but in the other case the decision
went against the Council in the Police Court, but it is satisfactory
to record that the Divisional Court has since held the Council's contention
was right, and the appeal which was lodged against that decision has
been allowed. This case is one of very grave importance, not only to
Hampstead but to all Metropolitan Borough Councils, because it
establishes the fact that where the wrongdoer can be found he can be
made liable for his wrongful act, irrespective of the lapse of time, and
it also to a larger extent gets over the principles of law which have
hitherto been accepted doctrines, viz.:—
1. That a purchaser of property for value stands in an
unassailable position in claiming against a local authority.
2. That, while a drain could be converted into a "sewer" by a
wrongful act, a local authority could not by any means
divest itself of a "sewer" and restore it to the category of
a "drain."
The following details taken from the case stated by the magistrate
will explain the circumstances, and at the same time probably be of
interest:—
"The premises known as No. 178, High Road, Kilburn, are drained by a line
of pipes, which takes also the drainage of certain adjoining premises as
hereinafter stated, and passes under No. 178, High Road and thence to
the public sewer in High Road, with which it is connected. The
line of pipes referred to as a combined drain is that part of the said line
of pipes which passes under No. 178, High Road.
On the 13th August, 1884, an application in writing, accompanied by a
plan, was made to the Vestry of the Parish of St. John, Hampstead
(which was at that time the proper authority under Section 76 of the
Metropolis Management Act, 1855), for permission to drain twelve
houses and shops situate in High Road, Kilburn, by a combined operation.
The said houses are now numbered 178 to 200 (even numbers
only). The said application, which is signed by Mr. A. Hackworth
(the builder and then owner of No. 178, High Road, Kilburn, and eleven
other houses and shops), was approved by the Vestry of the Parish of
St. John, Hampstead, at a meeting held on the 25th September, 1884,
and on that date an order was made by the said Vestry for the drainage