| Court: | King's Bench, Britain |
| Facts: | A major owns a house, but has never occupied it. A lance-corporal who is there as the mansion is used as a sick-bay finds a brooch. He takes it home on leave, and his wife tells him it might be valuable. He brings it back, tells his CO, and they give it to the homeowner. No owner comes forward, so they give it to the lance-corporal (about 2 years later). He sells it, and it gets re-sold. The lance-corporal is mad about this. |
| Posture: | This is the trial? |
| Issue: | Who owns the brooch? |
| Holding: | The lance-corporal (plaintiff) should get the sale value of the brooch. |
| Rule: | The law is unclear, but the brooch was lost, so it seems like the finder should own it. |
| Reasoning: | Appeals to precedent: Delamire, esp. A finder gets to keep the findings, unless the true owner steps up, unless the finder is working as an agent of another. There are authorities on both sides. |
| Dicta: | |