Trover

Trover, in the law of England, is an action brought to recover goods from a person to whom they do not belong, but who has in some way obtained possession of them. It was founded on the old fiction that the rightful owner had accidentally lost the goods, and the party in possession had found them, and would not give them up to such owner. It is practically an action to try the title to the goods, and therefore is of extensive application in the law of contracts, as well as other branches of law. The plaintiff, if successful, recovers the value of the goods as a satisfaction. The defendant is said to have illegally converted or appropriated the goods; it is by the conversion of the goods that the damage is done, and for this the remedy is given. See Bullen and Leake, Precedents of Pleadings.