Kirchner v. Venus (1859) is an English Law case precedent that defined freight as "the reward payable to the carrier of for the safe carriage and delivery of goods".
[1] The case was an action brought in trover for the release of goods being held in lien for failure to pay.
[2] The respondents were having seven shipments sent by Kirchner from Liverpool, England to Sydney, Australia.
The customer was declared bankrupt before the goods arrived and failed to pay.
[2][3] Stephens CJ found against the ship owners saying "A party has no right to claim possession of a chattel inconsistent with the terms of the contract".