## Facts

- This source is a *form of pleading* (a model declaration/count) printed in Henry John Stephen’s *A Treatise on the Principles of Pleading in Civil Actions* (London: J. Butterworth, 1824), not a reported judicial opinion.
- “A.B.” (plaintiff) is described as the owner and possessor of 20 valuable tables and 20 valuable chairs.
- “C.D.” (defendant) is alleged to have come into possession of the tables and chairs by some means not specified in the form.
- A.B. repeatedly requested that C.D. return the tables and chairs.
- C.D., knowing the tables and chairs belonged to A.B., refused to return them and instead treated them as C.D.’s own.
- The form pleads trover in the traditional style by alleging that A.B. “lost” the goods, that C.D. “found” them, and that C.D. converted them to C.D.’s own use, causing A.B. damage measured in money.

## Issues

1. Whether a trover declaration is sufficient when it alleges the plaintiff’s possessory right, “loss and finding,” the defendant’s conversion (supported by demand and refusal), and money damages.
2. Whether refusal to return chattels after demand may be pleaded as evidence of conversion where the defendant’s initial possession is not alleged to be wrongful.

## Decision

- No court decision or disposition exists because this text is a specimen pleading published in an 1824 treatise (London: J. Butterworth), not a litigated case with a judgment.
- The declaration is drafted to be facially adequate under common-law pleading conventions for trover by alleging possession/ownership, defendant’s possession, conversion, and damages.
- The model’s allegations are structured to allow the claim to proceed to proof of the plaintiff’s right to possession, the defendant’s act of conversion, and the value of the chattels.

## Legal Principles

- Trover is an action on the case used to recover money damages for conversion of personal chattels (wrongful dominion over another’s property inconsistent with the owner’s rights).
- The traditional trover form commonly alleges: (1) the plaintiff’s possession “as of his own property,” (2) a “casual loss” by the plaintiff, (3) a “finding” by the defendant, (4) conversion by the defendant to the defendant’s own use, and (5) damages.
- “Loss and finding” are pleading formulas historically used to fit the action into accepted forms; the model uses those formulas even when the real-world manner of acquisition is not the focus of the pleading.
- Demand by the plaintiff and refusal by the defendant are pleaded as facts supporting the inference of conversion, especially where the defendant’s original possession might have been lawful, accidental, or otherwise unexplained.
- The remedy in trover is typically the value of the chattel at the time of conversion (plus any permissible incidental amounts), rather than an order compelling the specific return of the item.
- The model illustrates how common-law pleading separated (a) stating a legally sufficient count from (b) proving conversion and value at trial.

## Conclusion

This “Writ of Trespass on the Case in Trover” is best understood as an 1824 treatise example (using fictitious parties A.B. and C.D.), demonstrating the standard common-law declaration in trover: it pleads the plaintiff’s ownership and right to possession of specific chattels, the defendant’s possession, demand and refusal as support for a conversion allegation, and monetary damages measured by the chattels’ value.


Writ of Trespass on the Case in Trover, London, J. Butterworth 1824