The Statute of Frauds Amendment Act 1828 (9 Geo 4 c 14), commonly known as Lord Tenterden's Act, was an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. Lord Tenterden served as

Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

between 1818 and 1832. Its purpose was for "rendering a written Memorandum necessary to the Validity of certain Promises and Engagements".UK Legislation
Statute of Frauds Amendment Act 1828
Introduction, accessed 31 October 2022

History

The Act received royal assent on 9 May 1828. It Act was adopted in New South Wales by the Act 4 Will 4 No 17 (1834), and extended to the territories of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

by Act No XIV of 1840. Sections 1 to 4, so far as they related to personal actions or actions of ejectment in the Superior Courts of Law in Ireland, were repealed by section 3 of, and Schedule A to, the Common Law Procedure Amendment Act (Ireland) 1853 (16 & 17 Vict c 113), subject to the exceptions in section 3 of that Act.

Preamble

The preamble said that by

Limitation Act 1623 The Limitation Act 1623 (21 Jac 1 c 16) was an Act of the Parliament of England. The whole Act was repealed by section 1(1) of, and Group 5 of Part I of Schedule 1 to, the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1986. See also *Limitation Act Limitation A ...

and a similar Act passed in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, namely the Act 10 Cha 1 Sess 2 c 6 (I) (1634), various questions have arisen in actions founded on

simple contract In contract law, a ''simple contract'' is a contract made orally or in writing or both of them rather than a contract made under seal. Simple contracts require consideration to be valid, but simple contracts may be implied from the conduct of parti ...

, as to the proof and effect of acknowledgments and promises offered in evidence for the purpose of taking cases out of the operation of these Acts; and it is expedient to prevent such questions, and to make provision for giving effect to the said Acts and to the intention thereof. The preamble was omitted by the

Statute Law Revision Act 1890 The Statute Law Revision Act 1890 (53 & 54 Vict c 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This Act was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010.The Chronological Table of the Statutes, 1235 - 2010. The Stationery Offic ...

Section 1

Section 1 provided that in

actions Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fi ...

of debt or upon the case grounded upon any simple contract no oral acknowledgment or promise shall be deemed sufficient evidence of a new or continuing contract, whereby to take any case out of the operation of the above Acts, or to deprive any party of the benefit thereof, unless such acknowledgment or promise shall be in some writing signed by the party chargeable thereby; and that where there shall be two or more joint contractors, no such joint contractor shall lose the benefit of the above Acts, so as to be chargeable in respect or by reason only of any written acknowledgment or promise made and signed by any other of them, and that nothing in this section shall alter or take away or lessen the effect of any payment of any principal or interest made by any person, and that in actions to be commenced against two or more such joint contractors, if it shall appear that the plaintiff, though barred by either of the above Acts or this Act, as to one or more of such joint contractors, shall nevertheless be entitled to recover against any other or others of the defendants, by virtue of a new acknowledgment or promise, judgment may be given the plaintiff as to such defendants against whom he shall recover, and for the other defendants against the plaintiff. This section was repealed by the Schedule to the Limitation Act 1939.

Section 2

Section 2 provided that if any defendant in any action on any simple contract shall make a

plea in abatement At common law an abatement in pleading or plea in abatement, was a defence to legal proceedings, which did not contest the principle of the plaintiff's right to relief, but contended that the plaintiff had made a procedural error, and needed to br ...

, to the effect that any other person ought to be jointly sued, and it shall appear that the action could not, by reason of the said above Acts or this Act be maintained against the other person named in such plea, the issue joined on such plea shall be found against the party pleading. This section was repealed as to the Supreme Court of Judicature in England by section 2 of, and Part II of the Schedule to, the

Civil Procedure Acts Repeal Act 1879 The Civil Procedure Acts Repeal Act 1879 ( 42 & 43 Vict. c. 59) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a public general Act. The Bill for this Act was the Civil Procedure Acts Repeal Bill. This Act was repealed by section 1 o ...

. This section was repealed as to England and Wales by section 4 of the Statute Law Revision and Civil Procedure Act 1883. This section was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1890.

Section 3

That no indorsement or memorandum of any payment written or made upon any

promissory note A promissory note, sometimes referred to as a note payable, is a legal instrument (more particularly, a financing instrument and a debt instrument), in which one party (the ''maker'' or ''issuer'') promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of ...

bill of exchange A negotiable instrument is a document guaranteeing the payment of a specific amount of money, either on demand, or at a set time, whose payer is usually named on the document. More specifically, it is a document contemplated by or consisting of a ...

, or other writing, by the party to whom such payment shall be made, shall be deemed sufficient proof of such payment, so as to take the case out of the operation the above Acts. This section was repealed by the Schedule to the Limitation Act 1939.

Section 4

This section provided that the above Acts and this Act shall apply in case of debt or simple contract asserted as a

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

of set-off. This section was repealed by the Schedule to the Limitation Act 1939.

Section 5

This section provided that no action shall be maintained upon any promise made after full age to pay any debt contracted during

infancy An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

, or upon any ratification after full age of any contract made during infancy, unless made by writing signed by the party to be charged. This section was repealed by the

Statute Law Revision Act 1875 The Statute Law Revision Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict c 66) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Bill for this Act was the Statute Law Revision Bill. This Act was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010. The enactments ...

, because it was virtually repealed or superseded by section 2 of the

Infants Relief Act 1874 An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

(37 & 38 Vict c 62).

Section 6

This section
was enacted to prevent section 4 of the

Statute of Frauds The Statute of Frauds (29 Car 2 c 3) (1677) was an Act of the Parliament of England. It required that certain types of contracts, wills, and grants, and assignment or surrender of leases or interest in real property must be in writing and sign ...

being circumvented bringing an action for the

tort of deceit The tort of deceit is a type of legal injury that occurs when a person intentionally and knowingly deceives another person into an action that damages them. Specifically, deceit requires that the tortfeasor * makes a factual representation, * kn ...

(the tort in Freeman v Palsey), by requiring the representation of credit be in writing signed by the party charged. In the 2007

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

case of Contex Drouzhba Ltd v Wiseman, the question was considered of whether the signature of a company director, fraudulently placed on a document on behalf of the company, was also the personal signature of the director, so as to be "the signature by the party to be charged" in accordance with the wording of this section, ''signed by the party to be charged therewith''. Mr Wiseman, the defendant, argued that his signing the document constituted "writing" on behalf of the company but in regard to his personal liability it was "conduct", insufficient to be treated as "writing, signed by the party to be charged". The judges dismissed Mr Wiseman's appeal, finding that "Mr Wiseman made a fraudulent representation in writing as to the credit or ability" of the company.England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
Contex Drouzhba Ltd v Wiseman & Anor
007EWCA Civ 1201, delivered 20 November 2007, accessed 4 January 2022

Section 7

This section provided that the

relating to contract for the sale of

goods In economics, goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods which are transferable, and services, which are not tran ...

for the price of ten

pounds sterling Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO 4217, ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of #Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories, its associated territori ...

or more shall cover goods to be delivered in the future, not yet manufactured, or not yet fit for delivery. It is also applicable to the Statute of Frauds 1695 in

. This section was repealed by the Schedule to the

Sale of Goods Act 1893 The Sale of Goods Act 1893 (56 & 57 Vict. c.71) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which regulated contracts in which goods are sold and bought. Its purpose was to define the rights and duties of the ...

Section 8

This section provided that writings required by this Act were not agreement subject to

stamp duty Stamp duty is a tax that is levied on single property purchases or documents (including, historically, the majority of legal documents such as cheques, receipts, military commissions, marriage licences and land transactions). A physical revenu ...

. This section was repealed by the Schedule to the Limitation Act 1939.

Section 9

This section provides that this Act shall not extend to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Section 10

This section provided that this Act commenced and took effect on 1 January 1829. This section was repealed by section 1 of, and the Schedule to, the

Statute Law Revision Act 1873 The Statute Law Revision Act 1873 (36 & 37 Vict c 91) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This Act was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010. The enactments which were repealed (whether for the whole or any part of ...

References

External links

The Statute of Frauds Amendment Act 1828
as amended, from

Legislation.gov.uk legislation.gov.uk, formerly known as the UK Statute Law Database, is the official web-accessible database of the statute law of the United Kingdom, hosted by The National Archives. It contains all primary legislation in force since 1267 and a ...

.
The Statute of Frauds Amendment Act 1828
as originally enacted, from

. {{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1828 English contract law