August 29, 2025
Lampleigh v Brathwait [1615] EWHC KB J17 (24 March 1615)
Brathwait asked Lampleigh to obtain a royal pardon for him, which Lampleigh performed successfully. Brathwait then promised to pay £100 but later refused. The court held that a past act, when done at the promisor's request, constitutes good consideration. Facts The defendant, Thomas Brathwait, had feloniously slain a man named Patrick Mahume. He asked the plaintiff, Anthony Lampleigh, to ‘labour and do his endeavor to obtain his pardon from the King’. Lampleigh agreed and, at his own expense and through considerable effort, rode and journeyed to and from London, Royston, and Newmarket to secure the royal pardon for Brathwait, which
