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3 - Agents, ‘Agents’ and Agency

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2021

Ross Cranston
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
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Summary

Agents were crucial to the practice of international trade during the period covered by the book. They facilitated the import and export of goods, fixed shipping contracts, arranged insurance and conducted financial services for banks abroad. Agency patterns for goods changed and by about the middle of the nineteenth century sending goods to merchants abroad for sale on consignment was no longer as common as previously. For marketing reasons distributors of manufactured goods like motor vehicles were described as the ‘agents’ of manufacturers, but they were not true agents in law. Agents also came into their own in various parts of the world as so-called managing agents of plantations, mines and factories, and in the result became the fulcrum of powerful business groups. Through doctrines such as undisclosed principal and reasonable compliance with a principal’s instructions, and through devices such as the commission, del credere and confirming agent, the law went further in meeting commercial need. English law recognised that an agent should not always ‘drop out’ of the picture but should bear some responsibility for the underlying principal–third party contract if a transaction went wrong. The courts glossed over doctrinal difficulties to meet commercial need.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Agents, ‘Agents’ and Agency
  • Ross Cranston, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Book: Making Commercial Law Through Practice 1830–1970
  • Online publication: 14 May 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108182836.004
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  • Agents, ‘Agents’ and Agency
  • Ross Cranston, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Book: Making Commercial Law Through Practice 1830–1970
  • Online publication: 14 May 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108182836.004
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Agents, ‘Agents’ and Agency
  • Ross Cranston, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Book: Making Commercial Law Through Practice 1830–1970
  • Online publication: 14 May 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108182836.004
Available formats
×