Blyth v Birmingham Waterworks Company
Encyclopedia
Blyth v Birmingham Waterworks Company (1856) 11 Ex Ch 781 concerns reasonableness in the law of negligence
. It is famous for its classic statement of what negligence is and the standard of care to be met.
for the neighbourhood of Birmingham
and had been incorporated by statute for the purpose of supplying Birmingham with water. The statute provided that:
The defendant had installed a fireplug into the hydrant near Mr Blyth's house. That winter, during a severe frost, the plug failed causing a flood and damage to Mr Blyth's house. Blyth sued the Waterworks for negligence.
, made what has become a famous definition of negligence:
The court found that the severe frost could not have been in the contemplation of the Water Works. They could only have been negligent if they had failed to do what a reasonable person
would do in the circumstances. Birmingham had not seen such cold in such a long time, and it would be unreasonable for the Water Works to anticipate such a rare occurrence.
Bramwell B delivered a dissenting judgment on the law, but reached the same result on the facts.
Negligence
Negligence is a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances. The area of tort law known as negligence involves harm caused by carelessness, not intentional harm.According to Jay M...
. It is famous for its classic statement of what negligence is and the standard of care to be met.
Facts
The defendants, Birmingham Waterworks Company, were the water worksWater supply network
A water supply system or water supply network is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components which provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes:# A drainage basin ;...
for the neighbourhood of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and had been incorporated by statute for the purpose of supplying Birmingham with water. The statute provided that:
the company should, upon the laying down of any main-pipe or other pipe in any street, fix, at the time of laying down such pipe, a proper and sufficient fire-plug in each such street, and should deliver the key or keys of such fire-plug to the persons having the care of the engine-house in or near to the said street, and cause another key to be hung up in the watch-house in or near to the said street. By sect. 87, pipes were to be eighteen inches beneath the surface of the soil. By the 89th section, the mains were at all times to be kept charged with water. The defendants derived no profit from the maintenance of the plugs distinct from the general profits of the whole business, but such maintenance was one of the conditions under which they were permitted to exercise the privileges given by the Act. The main-pipe opposite the house of the plaintiff was more than eighteen inches below the surface. The fire-plug was constructed according to the best known system, and the materials of it were at the time of the accident sound and in good order.
The defendant had installed a fireplug into the hydrant near Mr Blyth's house. That winter, during a severe frost, the plug failed causing a flood and damage to Mr Blyth's house. Blyth sued the Waterworks for negligence.
Judgment
In establishing the basis of the case, Baron AldersonEdward Hall Alderson
Sir Edward Hall Alderson was an English lawyer and judge whose many judgments on commercial law helped to shape the emerging British capitalism of the Victorian era....
, made what has become a famous definition of negligence:
The court found that the severe frost could not have been in the contemplation of the Water Works. They could only have been negligent if they had failed to do what a reasonable person
Reasonable person
The reasonable person is a legal fiction of the common law that represents an objective standard against which any individual's conduct can be measured...
would do in the circumstances. Birmingham had not seen such cold in such a long time, and it would be unreasonable for the Water Works to anticipate such a rare occurrence.
Bramwell B delivered a dissenting judgment on the law, but reached the same result on the facts.