ARCHER J.A.: This appeal involves two legal points (a) whether an equitable owner in possession can maintain an action in trespass and claim damages, and (b) whether the personal representative of the deceased from whom the equitable owner derives his title can defeat the equitable title by claiming priority because the legal estate is vested in him, the personal representative.
The facts briefly are as follows: In 1940, Miss Wilhemina Williams, agreed to sell a piece of land at Aboom Wells Road, Cape Coast, to the respondent, Mrs. Nancy Yalley (hereafter referred to as the plaintiff) then resident with her husband at Accra. The purchase price of £40 was paid to Miss Wilhemina Williams through her father, lawyer Awoonor Williams of Sekondi. In 1941, Miss Williams married the co-defendant, K. A. Taylor, but she died soon afterwards. Litigation over her estate ensued for several years and in 1947 the co-defendant was granted letters of administration. It appears that a deed of conveyance…