TEE COMMONS SOCIETY. 45 



Common within the Metropolitan Police district, 

 on the application of the Commoners, or of any 

 twelve Ratepayers, or of certain Local Authorities, to 

 authorise a scheme for the regulation of a Common 

 and its management by a Board of Conservators, 

 elected by the ratepayers of the district. The consent 

 of the Lord of the Manor is not necessary for such 

 a scheme ; but when he does not give his consent, his 

 rights, whatever they may be, of inclosing or other- 

 wise, are reserved, and are not affected by the scheme. 

 These regulation schemes are subject to the approval 

 of Parliament, in the same manner as schemes of 

 inclosure. This measure, passed by Mr. Cowper Temple, 

 then First Commissioner of Works, was- prepared and 

 recommended to him by the Commons Society. A very 

 considerable number of the London Commons have 

 since been brought under its protection, and schemes 

 have been passed, for their regulation. 



The interest of the public in the subject of Commons 

 was also greatly promoted in 186G-7 by the action of 

 Mr. Peek, now Sir Henry Peek, who as a Commoner 

 and resident was deeply interested in the preservation 

 of Wimbledon Common, and in the application to it of 

 a scheme of regulation under the Metropolitan Commons 

 Act. Mr. Peek offered several valuable prizes, amount- 

 ing in the aggregate to 400, for the best essays on the 

 Preservation of Commons. These led to the legal and 

 historical aspects of the question being studied by a 

 number of able young lawyers. The first prize was 

 won by the late Mr. Maidlow. The six best essays, 



