Building Blocks: Walsh v Lonsdale [1882]

In this episode of Building Blocks, Richard outlines the significance of Walsh v Lonsdale, an 1882 case which relates to the role of equity and the law and when they were fused together in the 1870s, starting with the The Judicature Acts 1873-1875. Lonsdale, the landlord, agreed a 7-year lease to Walsh, the tenant, but the lease was never executed as a deed. The rent was agreed but the tenant refused to pay the years' sum in advance, and so Lonsdale went into possession. The dispute lay in whether or not the lease was legal in the first place, with regards to equitable considerations and so the maxim, "Equity looks on as done that which ought to be done."

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