Introduction “…………until there is a principal debtor, there can be no suretyship. Nor can a man guarantee anyone else’s debt unless there is a debt of some other person to be guaranteed.”— Lord Selborne.1 In tandem with Lord Selbourne, Lord Willes also said that “(or) if his liability is made the foundation of a contract between the plaintiff and defendant, and that liability fails, the promise is void. ……………… The law of contract gives you, as foundation, that a person was taken to be liable, and that the surety-ship was a surety-ship in respect of that liability. Take away that liability, the foundation of the principal contract the contract of surety-ship would fail.” In every contract of guarantee2 the guiding principle is that ‘the liability of ....