{57c} In the “Report of the Committee appointed by the Paddington Parochial Association, instituted for the Reform of the Parish abuses,” printed 1834; it is stated, “at the present time, only one of these maps is forthcoming, that which contained the plan of the whole parish, and this when enquired for, was brought in a tin case from the house of the Vestry Clerk, who said when it was handed over to the Committee, that he could not tell whether the maps were or were not in it. On opening this remaining map, it was found to be defaced, there having been evidently erasures made on the face of it; the absence of the map of the waste and charity was enough to excite the suspicion of the committee; that at some period, dishonesty on the part of _some one_, if not _more_, had occasioned this loss; but when they found that the alterations upon the remaining map were connected with the waste and charity lands, they could no longer doubt of wrong doing somewhere, especially as an entire leaf had been torn out of the Vestry Minute Book, which related to the same subject, viz. Charity and Waste Lands.” {58} This Mr. Harper was a tenant of the bishop and his lessees; and the fields he rented chiefly for grazing, were called for many years, “Harper’s Fields.” On the expiration of his tenancy I do not find that his landlords made any compensation to the parish for this waste land, for which Mr. Harper had paid rent. {62} This “dispute” speaks volumes. That the Bishop of London and the Dean and Chapter of Westminster should “dispute” the right of the poor parishioners of Paddington _to half an acre_, when the whole of the land around, for many acres, was, in all probability, assigned to the poor, could not be believed except on such authority as the above. {68} The account states that the will directs £9 per annum to be given to poor families every Lady-day and Michaelmas day. {70} By the cash accounts, published annually, by order of the Vestry, it will be seen that for many years past, only five shillings per annum have been paid from _one_ of those houses which are spoken of under “Johnson’s Charity.” I have made search for the merchant-tailor’s will but it has been a fruitless one. Should any gentleman into whose hands these pages may fall, discover this, or any other document relative to Paddington, he would confer on the author of this work a very great favour, if he would take the trouble to communicate with him. {72} In a Report of the case of Thistlethwayte _v._ Gamier, heard before Sir J. Parker, in the Vice-Chancellor’s Court, May 4th, 1852, reported in the _Times_ on the following day, it is stated that the estimated value of seven-eighths of the lessee’s interest, which is two-thirds of the whole, is £430,000.