of Appeal. He was sworn of the Privy Council at the same time. After holding the position for seven years, he succeeded Sir George Jessel as Master of the Rolls in 1883. In 1885 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Esher, of Esher in the County of Surrey. He opposed the bill proposing that an accused person or his wife might give evidence in their own case and supported the bill that empowered Lords of Appeal to sit and vote after their retirement. The Solicitors Act 1888, which increased the powers of the Incorporated Law Society, owed much to his influence. In 1880, he delivered a speech in the House of Lords, deprecating the delay and expense of trials, which he regarded as having been increased by the Judicature Act 1873. He retired from the bench at the close of 1897, and was created Viscount Esher, of Esher in the County of Surrey, a dignity rarely given to any judge, Lord Chancellors excepted. Judgments Tamplin v James (1880) 15 Ch D 215 (CA), upholding a decision of Baggallay LJ in the first instance; contract law concerning the availability of specific performance for a breach of contract induced by mistake. Compagnie Financiere du Pacifique v Peruvian Guano Co (1882) 11 QBD 55 - Established the modern test for discovery of documents. Heaven v Pender (1883) - In the obiter dicta in his judgment of the Court of Appeal, Brett MR sought to establish a general "duty of care" between parties that would have led to a tort of negligence. Such a principle was only finally accepted by English courts in 1932. Foakes v Beer (Brett sitting in the Court of Appeal) [1884] UKHL 1, [1881-85] All ER Rep 106, (1884) 9 App Cas 605; 54 LJQB 130; 51 LT 833; 33 WR 233 - a leading case from the House of Lords on the legal concept of consideration In the Arbitration between Secretary of State for Home Department and Fletcher (1887) - upholding a Queens bench decision supporting the authority of the Inspector of Mines to require the use of safety lamps; Bowen LJ dissenting. Filburn v People's Palace and Aquarium Co Ltd (1890) was a case that imposed strict liability upon owners of wild animals for harm caused by them. British South Africa Co v Companhia de Moçambique [1893] AC 602 (Esher sitting in the Court of Appeal)