John Rylands Library Rylands Research Institute was relaunched in 2014 as a collaboration between the University of Manchester's Faculty of Humanities and the John Rylands Library. The mission of the Institute is to open up the Library's Special Collections to innovative and multidisciplinary research, in partnership with researchers in Manchester and across the globe. In September 2016, Hannah Barker, Professor of British History, took up the role as Director of the John Rylands Research Institute She succeeded Prof. Peter Pormann who had been appointed Director of the John Rylands Research Institute in 2013. Mrs Rylands established a board of trustees to hold the
Rylands v Fletcher leading to the development of negligence and nuisance and the further development of trespass. At the time of "Rylands", the previous case relied upon was "Vaughan v Menlove", decided in the Court of Common Pleas in 1837. The case had almost identical facts to "Rylands", but strict liability was never even considered. The case is instead thought of as one of the best attempts of early 19th century English judges to build up the law of negligence. The outcome of "Rylands" meant that judges would again impose strict liability on defendants who accumulated dangerous things on their land without any