HARTLEY v PONSONBY (1857) CONTRACTUAL VARIATION: 'Upward Variation'

The claimant, a seaman, agreed to sail a ship from Liverpool, to Port Philip in Australia, to Bombay in the East Indies and back to the United Kingdom. The complement of crew was thirty six. The wages of the seamen were to be £3 per month. The ship sailed from Liverpool to Port Philip. Whilst at Port Philip, seventeen of the crew deserted.

The master, to induce the remaining nineteen seamen (an unreasonably small number to sail the ship safely) to sail on to Bombay, promised to pay them a sum of money in addition to their wages to continue to Bombay. The voyage was then completed. The defendant refused to pay the claimant the additional sums promised.

A vessel, in consequence of…