Gibbons v Proctor (1891) 64 LT 594

Material Facts:

A reward of £25 was offered for any information leading to the conviction of an offender. The plaintiff, Gibbons, and oblivious of the reward of £25, offered the information to a third party to be relayed to the party who made the announcement of the reward. Before the third party could relay the information to the Proctor, Gibbons heard about the notice and offer initially put out by the rewarder. Gibbons attempted to claim the reward.

Issue:

Whether or not Gibbons is entitled to the reward of £25 even without prior knowledge of its existence.

Holding:

Mr. Gibbons was entitled to the reward.

Comments:

It is commonly held that since Gibbons obtained knowledge of reward before the information about the offender got to Proctor, Gibbons knew about the offer. However, this is a rather narrow-minded reasoning. Gibbons performed the terms of the contract without knowing about them, and any claim that he accepted the contract is a claim of retrospective acceptance post the performance of the act.