ROWLEY GREEN. 225 
of 300 acres of land held by free tenants, 200 acres 
by enfranchised copyholders with rights of common, 
and 52 acres of waste land or Common. On April dth, 
1887, at a customary Court of the Manor, a piece of 
land—about half an acre—was granted by the lord, 
with the consent of the homage of copyholders, to 
Eleanor Ramsey. The land was part of the waste in 
a green lane communicating with the Common, and 
the inclosure almost blocked the public way to it. 
This proceeding aroused a strong feeling in the parish. 
It was considered an unwarrantable encroachment on 
the rights of the Commoners, and a hideous disfigurement 
of the Green. It was also regarded as a dangerous 
precedent for the whole Common. It was not, how- 
ever, till May, 1891, that any action was taken, and that 
some of the inhabitants removed a part of the obstruc- 
tive fence. Thereupon a suit for trespass commenced. 
The defendants justified their proceedings as Commoners. 
On the other hand, the Lord of the Manor defended 
his course on the ground of a custom of his Manor 
to inclose with the consent of the homage. 
It appeared that the Steward summoned certain 
of the copyholders to be members of the homage for 
the occasion, and the proposed grant was submitted to 
these nominees of the lord, who gave their assent to 
it. The defendant in the case was an enfranchised 
copyholder, who had no longer any night to be 
summoned, but who retained his right of common 
under the Copyhold Act. He claimed that, whatever 
might be the validity of the alleged custom to inclose 
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