A Sketch of the Law Relating to Public Rights Over Wastes and Common.

A Scarce Entry in an Important Debate Over Public Urban Spaces Finlaison, John [1839-1906]. A Sketch of the Law Relating to Public Rights Over Wastes and Common Lands; With Some Practical Observations on the Wimbledon Common Question. London: Stevens and Sons, 26, Bell Yard, Lincoln's Inn, Law Booksellers and Publishers, 1867. 62 pp. Octavo (8-1/2" x 5-1/2"; 21.6 x 14 cm). Disbound stab-stitched pamphlet, untrimmed and unopened. Moderate toning, leaves separating slightly at foot but secure, light edgewear, light foxing and ink library stamp to title page, internally clean. A good copy of a scarce title. $450. * Only edition. "Wimbledon Common was pivotal in the battles over metropolitan commons in the 1860s, its transformation from manorial waste to a playground, 'the pearl of London's open spaces', forming a central strand in its history. The debates over the future of the common played a prominent part in the revolution in attitudes to common land in the mid-nineteenth century" (Winchester). As attitudes towards Britain's feudal system of land law liberalized, London's common land was increasingly valued as open space. Wimbledon Common drew attention as a space desperately in need of beautification after being somewhat ravaged by gravel digging, horse races and public events. Our pamphlet weighs in on the 'Wimbledon Common question,' which was introduced in 1864 when John Spencer [1835-1910], who had manorial rights to the land as 5th Earl Spencer, proposed the sale of a third of the land for housing and the conversion of the remainder into a fenced public park (where he would build himself a residence). His proposals were met with resistance and a committee of the House of Commons ultimately advised against his plan. Instead, an agreement was reached by which Spencer would place his land in a public trust in exchange for an annuity that would compensate him for the financial losses he incurred. The agreement was codified in 1871 by the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Act, which established Wimbledon Common and Putney Heath as managed urban spaces preserved for the public. OCLC locates 5 copies of this scarce title, 1 outside Britain (U.S. Supreme Court Library). No other copies located on Library Hub. Winchester, "Wimbledon Common and Putney Heath, Surrey," in Common Land in Britain: A History from the Middle Ages t. …