Foss v Harbottle

Foss v Harbottle (1843) 67 ER 189 is a leading English precedent in corporate law. In any action in which a wrong is alleged to have been done to a company, the proper claimant is the company itself. This is known as "the rule in Foss v Harbottle", and the several important exceptions that have been developed are often described as "exceptions to the rule in Foss v Harbottle". Amongst these is the 'derivative action', which allows a minority shareholder to bring a claim on behalf of the company. This applies in situations of 'wrongdoer control' and is, in reality, the only true exception to the rule. The rule in Foss v Harbottle is best seen as the starting point for minority shareholder remedies.

Facts

Richard Foss and Edward Starkie Turton were two minority shareholders in the "Victoria Park Company". The company had been set up in September 1835 to buy 180 acres (0.73 km²) of land near Manchester and, according to the report,

"enclosing and planting the same in an ornamental and park-like manner, and erecting houses thereon with attached gardens and pleasure-grounds, and selling, letting or otherwise disposing thereof".

Harbottle

Coordinates: 55°20′10″N 2°06′22″W / 55.336°N 2.106°W / 55.336; -2.106

Harbottle is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England about 10 miles (16 km) south-east of the Scottish border, nestled among the Cheviot Hills and inside Northumberland National Park. The village is the site of Harbottle Castle built by order of Henry II. Now in ruins, the castle was constructed by the Umfraville family to protect against invaders from Scotland.

The National Gazetteer (1868) comments as follows:

HARBOTTLE, a township in the parish of Alwinton, W. division of Coquetdale ward, county Northumberland, 8 miles W. of Rothbury, and 24 W. of Morpeth, situated on the river Coquet. Here was anciently a strong castle, the seat of the lords of the marshes. It was built anterior to 1075, and was twice taken by the Scots, in 1173 and 1314, after the battle of Bannockburn. Queen Margaret retired here in 1518, on her marriage with Lennox. The English Presbyterian church is a stone structure, and was rebuilt in 1854. There are parochial and Sunday schools. The former has an endowment of £16 per annum, for the education of 12 children. At the E. end of the village on the banks of the river Coquet, is Harbottle Castle, the seat of Percival Fenwick Clennell, Esq. A cattle fair is held on the 19th September.

Harbottle (disambiguation)

Harbottle is a village in Northumberland, England.

Harbottle may also refer to:

See also