PREFACE. vii 



engaged in so many of the great law suits referred to, 

 for the aid they have rendered in supplying me with 

 information, and in assisting me in revising and com- 

 pleting this work. The account of the Banstead Com- 

 mons litigation is mainly derived from a pamphlet by 

 Sir Robert Hunter, whose able pen and wise counsel 

 have contributed so largely to the success of the cause. 



I am also indebted to Mr. P. H. Lawrence, who 

 took so large a part in the initiation of the movement ; 

 and I desire to acknowledge the kind assistance of 

 Mr. James Hole and Mr. Fithian, who almost from the 

 commencement of the Commons Society have been its 

 Honorary and Acting Secretary. 



Some of the paragraphs in the opening chapter on 

 the origin and history of Commons are taken from an 

 account I published a few years ago of the then position 

 of the movement for their preservation. The stories 

 of some of the Commons cases, and especially of Epping 

 Forest, may be partially known to the public, or may 

 be found to some extent in the law reports, but they 

 have not, I think, before been fully told, or collected 

 together, with the object of giving a succinct history of 

 the movement, and of explaining the process by which 

 the Courts of Law, Parliament and the public have 

 been gradually and fully convinced of the necessity of 

 preserving our Commons and Forests, and have been 

 instructed how to accomplish this object. 



G. S. L. 

 January \Wi, 1894. 



