PREFACE. vii 
engaged in so many of the great law suits referred to, 
for the aid they have rendered in supplying me with 
information, and in assisting me in revising and com- 
pleting this work. The account of the Banstead Com- 
mons litigation is mainly derived from a pamphlet by 
Sir Robert Hunter, whose able pen and wise counsel 
have contributed so largely to the success of the cause. 
I am also indebted to Mr. P. H. Lawrence, who 
took so large a part in the initiation of the movement ; 
and I desire to acknowledge the kind assistance of 
Mr. James Hole and Mr. Fithian, who almost from the 
commencement of the Commons Society have been its 
Honorary and Acting Secretary. 
Some of the paragraphs in the opening chapter on 
the origin and history of Commons are taken from an 
account I published a few years ago of the then position 
of the movement for their preservation. The stories 
of some of the Commons cases, and especially of Epping 
Forest, may be partially known to the public, or may 
be found to some extent in the law reports, but they 
have not, I think, before been fully told, or collected 
together, with the object of giving a succinct history of 
the movement, and of explaining the process by which 
the Courts of Law, Parliament and the public have 
been gradually and fully convinced of the necessity of 
preserving our Commons and Forests, and have been 
instructed how to accomplish this object. 
AT. Ly, 
January 12th, 1894. 
