HAMPSTEAD HEATH. 49 



part (if any) of the Heath, and other waste ground 

 in Hampstead, whether occupied or not, which may 

 be hereafter approved, and exonerated, or discharged 

 from the customs of the Manor, and from all rights 

 of common and other rights, for the sole use of and 

 benefit of the lord for the time being." 



The proposal caused the greatest alarm to those 

 interested in the maintenance of the Heath. The Bill 

 was opposed in the House of Lords by Lord Mansfield, 

 the owner of a considerable property adjoining the 

 Common, and was rejected by a large majority. From 

 thenceforward repeated applications were made by Sir 

 Thomas Wilson to Parliament in private Bills, for 

 power to grant leases on his Hampstead property. The 

 reference to the Heath was omitted in those subsequent 

 to 1829, but as Sir Thomas refrained from giving an 

 undertaking that he would not use his powers in 

 leasing portions of the Common, Parliament refused to 

 concede them to him. The Bills were invariabty 

 rejected by one or other of the two Houses. An ex- 

 ception was, therefore, made in respect of this single 

 case from the general treatment of landowners, and 

 Sir Thomas was refused the power of adding immensely 

 to his income by giving leases for building purposes on 

 his demesne lands. 



This appears to have rankled in his mind, and 

 before the Committee of 1865 he asserted his absolute 

 interest in the Heath, free from any common or other 

 rights, and his intention to make what use of it he 

 could by leasing it for building purposes, to the limited 



E 



