This practice of granting church lands for three lives appears to be very ancient. It was the common practice of Oswald, Bishop of Worcester, at the end of the tenth century; and for doing which he was accused of wasting the revenues of the church.—_Mr. Kemble’s Introduction_, p. 34. {51} The Desborough estate was leased by Bishop Porteus and his lessees to the Grand Junction Canal Company; but how the Bishop and his lessees became possessed of this estate I do not know. {52a} _Mr. Macaulay_, in his _History of England_, when speaking of London, as it existed in 1685, describes this Pest-house Field as being the place used as a burial place for many of those who died of the plague twenty years before; but from the account given by _Lysons_, and from the Acts of Parliament relating to this charity estate, I am induced to believe it was purchased after that calamity and for future use. {52b} A plan of Upton Farm, taken by William Gardner, in 1729, was presented to the parishioners of Paddington by Mr. Thomas, a surgeon, who lived in Brown-street, and it is still preserved in the Vestry-room. {54a} Vide _Faulkner’s History of Kensington_, p. 596. {54b} The hog was one of the most important possessions of the cottager, and as this animal obtained the chief part of its food in the wood, this right of the wood was of more consequence than the right of pasture to the poorer villagers. {54c} _Penny Cyclopædia_; article—“Commons.” {55a} It is said that even for the russet spot which is still, for auld lang syne, called Paddington-green, the parishioners are indebted to the generosity of a private gentleman. {55b} _Macaulay’s History of England_, vol. i. page 421. {56a} _Ferrers_—a romance of the reign of George the second. 3 vols. 1842. {56b} “The woman I adore;” in which Mr. B. appeared as “Paddington Green.” {56c} It may be asked, why these prints have not been copied for this work? My answer is, that if these had been inserted others could not have been left out; and as my object was to keep down the price of this edition, so as to bring it within reach of every rate-payer, I was very reluctantly compelled to leave out all pictorial illustration. {57a} The Charity School and St. Margaret’s-terrace now occupy the site of this pond. {57b} This was not one of the forts belonging to the entrenchment which encircled London and Westminster, for as is shewn in _Maitland’s History of London_, the continuous fortification was much nearer those cities; but it was a small detached outwork, a portion of which remained in Chatelain’s time, and is represented in his engraving.