ABSTRACT
Dimmock v Hallett (1866) CLJ The plaintiff seller sold an estate of 934 acres at auction to the defendant buyer on 25 January 1866. The buyer relied on several statements by the seller. Two of them were as follows. (I) Two farms of together 246 acres were described as being let to yearly Lady Day tenants for a total of £290 per year. This was strictly true, but the seller did not mention that at the date of the sale the two tenants had given notice that they would be quitting at Lady Day (25 March) 1866. (II) A farm of 300 acres was described as ‘lately in the occupation of Mr R Hickson, at an annual rent of £290 15s. Now in hand’. Again, this was strictly true, but two other facts were not mentioned: (i) Hickson came in at Midsummer (24 June) 1863 and left at Michaelmas (29 September) 1864. Although he paid £290 15s for the last year, he paid only £1 for the first quarter; (ii) since Hickson left, the seller had agreed to let the farm to someone else for £225 per year. Although that deal had later fallen through, it was an indication of the falling value of the farm.
