EPPING FOREST. 127 
prison, where he caught a severe cold, which developed 
into pneumonia, and resulted in his death. 
These high-handed proceedings caused great indig- 
nation in the district and in the East of London. 
Meetings were held to protest against the inclosures 
of Loughton. When Willingale came out of prison, 
he was advised to seek the aid of the Commons Society. 
It appeared to the Society that the custom of the 
people of Loughton was such that, if supported by 
legal proceedings, it might result in defeating the in- 
closures, and in preserving this part of the Forest. <A 
fund of £1,000 was raised among its leading members— 
the half of it from Sir T. Fowell Buxton, an owner 
and resident within the range of the Forest; and a 
suit was commenced in the name of Willingale, on 
behalf of the inhabitants of Loughton, claiming the 
right to lop the trees in that part of the Forest during 
the winter months, and asking for an injunction to 
restrain Mr. Maitland from cutting down the trees 
and inclosing the Forest. Another suit of the same 
kind was commenced in the name of a freehold tenant 
of the Manor named Castell, claiming the right 
of lopping the trees as a commonable night. An 
interim injunction was thereupon obtained to prevent 
Mr. Maitland cutting down the trees of the Forest, 
pending the hearing of Willingale’s suit. 
The case thus asserted, on behalf of the inhabitants 
of Loughton, was not free from difficulty, owing to 
the technical rule of law already alluded to, that the 
inhabitants of a place are too vague a body to enjoy a 
