100 WANDSWORTH COMMON. 



son, on Prince Charles. This Prince, on coming to the 

 throne, granted it to Oliver St. John, afterwards created 

 Viscount Grandison. His nephew inherited the estate, 

 but not the title, and was himself created, in 1710, 

 Viscount St. John. He had an only son, the well-known 

 statesman, who was created Viscount Bolingbroke in 

 the lifetime of his father. His successor, in 1762, sold 

 the Manor to the trustees of Lord Spencer, from whom 

 it descended to the present owner. 



No Common in the neighbourhood of London has 

 suffered more cruelly in past times from encroachments of 

 all kinds. It now consists of 1 94 acres, but a glance at 

 the map will show that formerly it must have had a 

 considerably larger area. In 1782, the then Lord of the 

 Manor obtained the consent of the Parish of Wands- 

 worth to an inclosure of 92 acres for an addition to 

 his Park, on payment of an annual sum of 50, to be 

 expended in charity ; and at the same time Sir William 

 Fordyce obtained leave to inclose 23 acres on payment 

 of 20 a year to the parish. The late Mr. Porter also 

 inclosed a considerable part of the East Common, which 

 he claimed as waste of the Manor of Alfarthing, of 

 which he was Lord ; and his claim, though unfounded, 

 does not appear to have been disputed. 



About forty years ago, two Railway Companies 

 the London and South-Western and the London and 

 Brighton obtained leave to take their lines through the 

 Common, severing it into three distinct parts, and almost 

 ruining it as an open space ; and later, chiefly in conse- 

 quence of this severance, the Royal Patriotic Society was 



