trover lay
http://www.in.gr/dictionary/lookup.asp?Word=trover

TROVER (0. Fr. trover, to find, mod. trouver), or "trover and conversion," the name of a form of action in English law no longer in use, corresponding to the modern action of conversion. It was brought for damages for the detention of a chattel, and differed from detinue in that the latter was brought for the return of the chattel itself. The name trover is due to the action having been based on the fictitious averment in the plaintiff's declaration that he had lost the goods and that the defendant had found them. The necessity for this fictitious averment was taken away by the Common Law Procedure Act 1852. An action of trover lay (as an action of conversion still lies) in every case where the defendant was in possession of a chattel of the plaintiff and refused to deliver it up on request, such refusal being prima facie evidence of conversion. The damages recoverable are usually the value of the chattel converted. In an action for detention of a chattel (the representative cf the old action of detinue), the plaintiff may have judgment and execution by writ of delivery for the chattel itself or for its value at his option. An action for conversion or detention must be brought within six years. The corresponding action in Scots law is the action of spuilzie. It must be brought within three years in order to entitle the pursuer to violent profits, otherwise it prescribes in forty years.
http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Trover


The action of conversion is a common law legal proceeding for damages by an owner of property against a defendant who came across the property and who, rather than return the property, converted that property to his own use or retained possession of the property or otherwise interfered with the property. The innocence of the defendant who took the property is not an issue. It is the conversion that gives rise to the cause of action. This common law action replaced the old action of trover by English law dated 1852. Compare with detinue.

http://resources.lawinfo.com/dsp_term.cfm?Key=conversion

JSTOR: Loss through Gross Negligence of Carrier as Conversion
The authorities are numerous which hold that to support an action of conversion against a carrier, the act of the carrier which causes the loss of the goods ...
links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0026-2234(191512)14%3A2%3C141%3ALTGNOC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V - Similar pages
JSTOR: Trover and Conversion. Tenants in Common. Severable Chattels
However, if the holder destroyed the chattel the co-tenant lost even this privilege, so an action of conversion was allowed. Co. Lit. ? 200 a, b. ...
links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0010-1958(192212)22%3A8%3C769%3ATACTIC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L - Similar pages