Hyde v Wrench (1840) 3 Beav 334
The defendant through his agent offered to sell his farm to the plaintiff for £1,200. The plaintiff through his agent refused. On the 6th June 1840 The defendant through his agent offered to sell for £1,000. The plaintiff through his agent in reply offered to buy the farm for £950. The defendant then asked for time to consider.
On the 27th June 1840 the defendant wrote to the plaintiff’s agent and rejected the offer of £950.
Finally on the 29th June 1840 The plaintiff’s agent wrote to the defendant purporting to accept the offer of the 6th June 1840.
The defendant refused to complete any sale and the plaintiff sued for specific performance. The defence was that, admitting the facts, there was no concluded contract.
This case is a simple illustration of the proposition that a counter-offer is usually taken as rejecting the earlier offer. It was held that there was no contract. The offer to buy at £950 rejected the offer to sell at £1000, and it was not then allowable for the plaintiff to "revive the offer" by acceptance.
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