Appeals to the Privy Council from the
Caribbean and Canadian Colonies
Report No. ANT_1726_03

Lyons v Lyons

Lyons v Lyons

Antigua 

 

Case Name Long

Henry Lyons v executors of Henry Lyons, and Nathaniel Crump, Michael Arnold, Nicholas Lynch, John Teale (the four being the executors of Jeffrey Lyons), Elizabeth Lyons, and Sarah Lyons

 
Case Name Long

Executors of Henry Lyons, and Nathaniel Crump, Michael Arnold, Nicholas Lynch, John Teale (the four being the executors of Jeffrey Lyons), Elizabeth Lyons, and Sarah Lyons v Henry Lyons

 
 

Acts of the Privy Council, Colonial Series

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APC Citation  

v.3 [104] p.133–134 (9 Aug. 1726 – 31 May 1727)

 
  PC Register Citation

George I v.5 (Sept. 1724 – May 1727) p.277, 320, 354, 355, 356, 360–361, 364–365: PC 2/89/277, 320, 354, 355, 356, 360–361, 364–365

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Colonial Courts

 
 

Chancery – 4 Dec. 1725

 

Participants

Arnold, Michael, respondent/appellant (executor of Jeffrey Lyons)

 

Crump, Nathaniel, respondent/appellant (executor of Jeffrey Lyons)

 

Lynch, Nicholas, respondent/appellant (executor of Jeffrey Lyons)

 

Lyons, Elizabeth, respondent/appellant (widow of Jeffrey)

 

Lyons, Henry (1), deceased

 

Lyons, Henry (2), appellant/respondent

 

Lyons, Jeffrey, deceased (husband of Elizabeth, father of Sarah)

 

Lyons, Sarah, respondent/appellant (daughter of Jeffrey)

 

Teale, John, respondent/appellant (executor of Jeffrey Lyons)

 

Description

Concerning an estate, including debts and dower.

Disposition

Decree affirmed with variations; cross appeal admitted, later dismissed.

Notes

Related to another Privy Council appeal:

Carpenter v Parry, Carpenter v Lyons – Report No. ANT_1726_02 (APC, v.3 [103] p.132–133).

 

References in Smith, Appeals to the Privy Council from the American Plantations

Table of Cases (Lyons v Lyons)


DOCUMENTATION

Printed Cases

Not found

 

Privy Council Documents in PC 1 at The National Archives at Kew

 
TNA Document Committee reports – 11 May 1727 and 18 May 1727 (PC 1/48/23) view_Document
Notes about
Document
Referenced in APC v.6 [379] p.188.

view_APC


ADDITIONAL RESEARCH

The relationship between Jeffrey Lyons and the two Henry Lyonses is never quite stated, but the committee report, as summarized in the PC register, suggests that he was the son of Henry (1) and the brother and heir of Henry (2). How Elizabeth’s dower ended up in the estate of Henry (1) is not explained. If we remember the common-law rule that the widow is not entitled to possession of her dower until it was assigned to her by her husband’s heir, then we would expect that Elizabeth’s dower would be in the estate of Henry (2) not of Henry (1). Considering how rare common-law dower was in this period, however, perhaps we should imagine that Elizabeth’s dower was not common-law dower, but a jointure, which the elder Henry had promised to pay and which remained a debt of his estate. The Privy Council’s decree affirms the Chancery court’s order that Elizabeth is entitled to ‘dower’ out of Henry (1)’s estate, but subjects it to a proportional reduction by the debts of the estate and the legacies made in the will. Compare JAM_1768_02, where the committee report says that the widow’s annuity in lieu of dower should come out of the estate of her late husband, but the APC mistakenly says that it should come out of that of another man. See Additional Research on JAM_1768_02.

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