View report page

217
14. Bermondsey 627
15. St. George-the-Martvr 284
THAT if the population of the Parish increase in the
same ratio as it has done during the last thirty years, it
will, in a few years, contain a larger number of inhabitants
than any other Parish in the Metropolis.
THAT your Petitioners submit these facts to show
the urgent necessity of increasing the present limited recreation
and open spaces in this Parish.
THAT upon inquiry by a Committee of the Honourable
House of Commons, the Steward of the Manor, comprising
Peckham Rye, claimed the right of the Lord of the Manor
to make bricks, and use the common for digging clay, &c.,
which so alarmed your Petitioners that they purchased the
Manorial rights over such Common, which comprises 50
acres of land, and subsequently your Petitioners transferred
the same to the Metropolitan Board of Works, whose
powers have now been taken over by the London County
Council.
THAT the said Common is not only used extensively
by the Parishioners, but also by the industrious and poorer
classes of Newington, Southwark, Bermondsey, Rotherhithe,
Deptford, &c., &c., especially on Saturday afternoons, Sundays,
and Public Holidays, when an immense number of
persons enjoy this open space.
YOUR Petitioners respectfully submit that from the
foregoing statements, they have established a strong and
conclusive case, evidencing the importance of this Parish
participating in the " Central Fund Capital Account," of