Millar v. Marquess of Lansdowne [1910] ScotLR 498 (15 March 1910)

Millar v. Marquess of Lansdowne [1910] ScotLR 498 (15 March 1910)

The pursuer's continuous and uninterrupted possession of the estate since 1647, coupled with a progress of titles connecting him to the 1647 Crown charter, even if defective at points, is sufficient to defeat the defender's claim under the 1663 charter. The 1663 charter was a non domino and did not create a separate tenement in the coal. Prescription on the pursuer's title has cured any defects, and possession of the surface suffices to carry the coal where there has been no valid separation of tenements.

Citation
[1910] ScotLR 498
Parties
Pursuer: R. H. Millar of Blaircastle; Defender: Marquess of Lansdowne
Jurisdiction
Scotland
Judgment Date
15 March 1910
Procedural Posture
Civil / Appeal (inner House, Second Division, Court of Session)
Outcome
Pursuer's right to the coals under the lands of Blair, Possils, Langside, Bruce Meadow, Breadie's Acre, Bordie, and Birkenhead declared, except as regards the foreshore of Blair, Possils, and Bordie, where proof of possession is allowed.
Legal Topics
Competition of Titles, Crown Grant, Prescription, Separata Tenementa, Foreshore Rights, Defective Title, Conveyancing, Possession, Mineral Rights
Property Law Feudal Law Real Estate Competition of Titles Crown Grant Prescription Separata Tenementa Foreshore Rights +4 more

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Parties

R. H. Millar of Blaircastle

Pursuer

Marquess of Lansdowne

Defender

Procedural Posture

Civil / Appeal (inner House, Second Division, Court of Session)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the pursuer has the exclusive right to the coals under specified lands and foreshore based on a Crown charter of 1647, in competition with the defender's claim under a Crown charter of 1663 to the coals.
  2. 2 Whether defects in the progress of titles (notably the 1720 sasine) break the pursuer's chain of title and allow the defender to prevail.
  3. 3 Whether the coal was made a separatum tenementum by the 1663 charter, requiring separate prescriptive possession of the coal.

Ratio Decidendi

The pursuer's continuous and uninterrupted possession of the estate since 1647, coupled with a progress of titles connecting him to the 1647 Crown charter, even if defective at points, is sufficient to defeat the defender's claim under the 1663 charter. The 1663 charter was a non domino and did not create a separate tenement in the coal. Prescription on the pursuer's title has cured any defects, and possession of the surface suffices to carry the coal where there has been no valid separation of tenements.

Court Disposition

Pursuer's right to the coals under the lands of Blair, Possils, Langside, Bruce Meadow, Breadie's Acre, Bordie, and Birkenhead declared, except as regards the foreshore of Blair, Possils, and Bordie, where proof of possession is allowed.

Orders

  • Finds and declares in terms of the conclusions of the summons, except as regards the foreshore ex adverso of the lands of Blair and Possils and Bordie, and decerns.
  • Allows both parties proof of their respective averments of possession regarding the foreshore.