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 adjoming 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 invariably 
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 
