80 PLUMSTEAD COMMONS. 



of the Manor. The College brought an action at law 

 against Mr. John Warrick and others for trespass in 

 respect of the removal of fences from the Green, but as 

 they failed to proceed to trial with the case, a counter- 

 suit was brought by Mr. Warrick and Mr. Goldsmid, 

 on behalf of the freehold tenants of the Manor, asking 

 for a declaration of their rights, and claiming an in- 

 junction against Queen's College to restrain its Fellows 

 from inclosing the wastes of the Manor. 



The College, in the meantime, had endeavoured to 

 dispose of the Green, and of their encroachments on 

 Bostall Heath and Plumstead Common. They refused 

 an offer of 500 for the Green, and let it to a tenant at 

 9 a year. They also negotiated for the sale of Bostall 

 Heath, but without coming to a conclusion. A portion 

 of Plumstead Heath was bought by a building com- 

 pany, and was advertised for sale in building lots. 



The suit on behalf of Messrs. Warrick, Goldsmid, 

 and Jacobs was commenced on 4th August, 1866. The 

 proceedings necessitated a careful examination into the 

 history of the Manor, and the nature and extent of the 

 rights claimed by the freeholders. The Fellows of Queen's 

 College controverted every contention of the Plaintiffs in 

 the case. They denied their right to sue on behalf of 

 the freehold tenants ; they traversed their claims of 

 common rights ; they contended that as there had been 

 no admissions in recent } r ears of freeholders as tenants 

 of the Manor, and no payment of quit rents, their 

 rights, whatever they might have been, were extin- 

 guished ; they claimed the right to inclose the waste 



