Amicable Settlement with Lord Spencer — An Act Promised
After a long period of agitation the committee for the preservation of Wandsworth Common have succeeded in effecting an amicable arrangement with Lord Spencer, which will secure the common for public recreation and enjoyment. To carry into effect this arrangement an Act will be submitted to Parliament next Session, which will convey Lord Spencer's estate and interest in Wandsworth Common to a body of conservators, who are to keep the common open and unenclosed.
Wandsworth — Historical Note on the Settlement
Wandsworth — historically one of the most interesting of the far from appreciated suburbs of London — where a little colony of French refugees settled after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes; where Voltaire composed the greater part of his Henriade, and lived in welcome proximity to Bolingbroke at Battersea, and Pope at Twickenham — Wandsworth, we say, has come to an amicable arrangement with Lord Spencer, and will henceforth retain her common for public recreation, while her "Black Sea," as the little sheet of water within it is designated, will be neutralised.
Terms of the Arrangement — The Wandsworth Common Bill
The main terms of the arrangement:
The Wandsworth Common Act Passed — Conservators Named
The remains of Wandsworth Common are in a fair way of being preserved to the public. Parliament has just passed an Act vesting the common in eight conservators — one nominated by the Home Office (Mr. R. H. Wyatt, the clerk of the peace for Surrey), one by the Office of Works (the Right Hon. A. S. Ayrton), one by the Metropolitan Board of Works (Mr. Meedon), three inhabitants of Battersea, and two inhabitants of Wandsworth. Lord Spencer, as lord of the manor, has agreed to take £250 per annum in satisfaction of his rights. To meet this annuity, and to pay their other out-goings, the conservators are empowered to levy a halfpenny rate on all property in the parishes of Battersea and Wandsworth.