ADUMUA-BOSSMAN J.: (His lordship set out the respective cases of the parties, and proceeded):—
The question of the jurisdiction of this Court to entertain the appeal arises firstly for consideration. The Writ of Summons, on the face of it, appears to be a clear claim to the estate of a deceased person. But the real issue would appear to be whether the plot of land on which the storey-building was erected—
(a) was his self-acquired plot, so as to make the building, together with the plot on which it was erected, the self-acquired property of the deceased; or
(b) was the family-property of his wife’s family, of which land he was only allowed the use to erect a building for himself and his wife and children, so that both plot and building were the property of himself together with his wife and children - a kind of family property in fact. In that event, the appellants contend, it could not devolve as his self-acquired property.
Lord Cohen, delivering the judgment of the Privy Council in Vand…