In the early years of the eighteenth century there had been signs of a revival of the old process of enclosures, which had been suspended for more than a hundred years. This was brought about by private acts of Parliament. An act would be passed by Parliament giving legal authority to the inhabitants of some parish to throw together the scattered strips, and to redivide these and the common meadows and pastures in such a way that each person with any claim on the land should receive a proportionate share, and should have it separated from all others and entirely in his own control. It was the usual procedure for the lord of the manor, the rector of the parish, and other large landholders and persons of influence to agree on the general conditions of enclosure and draw up a bill appointing commissioners, and providing for survey, compensation, redistribution, and other requirements. They then submitted this bill to Parliament, where, unless there was some special reason to the contrary, it was passed. Its provisions were then carried out, and although legal and parliamentary fees and the expenses of survey and enclosure were large, yet as a result each inhabitant who had been able to make out a legal claim to any of the land of the parish received either some money compensation or a stretch of enclosed land. Such private enclosure acts increased slowly in number till about the middle of the century, when the increase became much more rapid. The number of enclosure acts passed by Parliament and the approximate extent of land enclosed under their provisions were as follows:-- 1700-1759 244 Enclosure Bills 337,877 Acres 1760-1769 385 " " 704,550 " 1770-1779 660 " " 1,207,800 " 1780-1789 246 " " 450,180 " 1790-1799 469 " " 858,270 " 1800-1809 847 " " 1,550,010 " 1810-1819 853 " " 1,560,990 " 1820-1829 205 " " 375,150 " 1830-1839 136 " " 248,880 " 1840-1849 66 " " 394,747 " In 1756, 1758, and 1773 general acts were passed encouraging the enclosure for common use of open pastures and arable fields, but not enclosing or dividing them permanently, and not providing for any separate ownership.