Contract; contract formation; offer and acceptance; acceptance by post.
Facts: Fraser offered to sell certain houses to Henthorn for a sum of £750, giving Henthorn 14 days in which to accept the offer. The day after receiving the offer, Henthorn posted a letter to Fraser, accepting it. After this letter of acceptance had been posted, but before it was received by Fraser, Fraser was offered a higher price for the houses by another buyer and he attempted to withdraw his offer to Henthorn. He relied on the principle that an offer may be withdrawn at any time before acceptance, arguing that acceptance by post had not been authorised, and that Henthorn's acceptance was therefore not effective before it was delivered.
Issue: Had Henthorn already accepted the offer made by Fraser before Fraser's attempt to withdraw it?
Decision: Acceptance of the offer was effective as soon as the letter of acceptance was posted by Henthorn, and this took place before Fraser's attempt to withdraw the offer.
Reason: Acceptance by post need not be specifically authorised for it to be effective as soon as the letter is posted. Lord Herschell said (at 33):
"Where the circumstances are such that it must have been within the contemplation of the parties that, according to ordinary usage of mankind, the post might be used as a means of communicating the acceptance of an offer, the acceptance is complete as soon as it is posted."
The contract was therefore completed as soon as the letter of acceptance was posted to Fraser.