upon other grounds found a verdict for the defendant. The important point remained undecided, and it is left open for fuurther argument by some patriotic litigant.
In the case of Bunbury v. Hewson, decided in 1849 by the Court of Exchequer of Pleas (see 3 Exchequer Reports, p. 588), it was contended that the ecclesiatical laws and customs of England did not extend to Wales. The point raised was whether an action could be maintained by the executors of a deceased incumbent against the executors of his predecessor, for dilapidations which occurred during the incumbency of the predecessor. The plaintiff stated in his declaration that by the law and custom of England hitherto used and approved of such an action would lie at common law. The defendant replied that there was no precedent of such an action by the executor of a deceased incumbent, and further submitted that, the living in question being in Wales, the law and custom of England at the time stated in the declaration did not extend to Wales. (The defendant was the executor of the Vicar of the parish church of Swansea, who was seised in right of the said vicarage of and in certain glebe lands lying and being in the parish of Kenfig and Pyle in the county of Glamorgan.) Baron Parke, in giving judgment in favour of the plaintiff, held that the action was maintainable, and overruled the objection that the vicarage being in Wales prevented the application of the English Law and customs, upon the ground that the laws of England were extended in 1535 to Wales by the statute 27 Henry 8, c. 26.
In this Introduction only a brief summary of the provisions and objects of the various statutes has been given, together with such explanatory matter considered necessary to assist the reader in understanding the scope of this legislation and making any further research. It does not profess to be a complete investigation of the historical circumstances connected with the legislative enactments concerning Wales. It is but a preliminary exploration made into the trackless
