Walters v Morgan (1861) 3 DF & J 718

The defendant purchased some land. The claimant wished to mine the land and produced a draft lease and pressured the defendant into signing the lease before he realised the value of the land. Once the defendant had discovered the true value, he refused to allow the defendant to mine the land. The claimant sued for breach of contract and sought specific performance. The defendant sought to have the contract rescinded for misrepresentation.

Held:

There was no misrepresentation since the claimant had not said anything to mislead the defendant as to the value of the land. Silence can not amount to misrepresentation. However, the court refused an order of specific performance as the claimant had sought to take advantage of the defendant’s ignorance by rushing him into signing the lease.

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