THAT William De La Pool , Duke of Suffolk , being heretofore seized of the Mannor of Ramridge in Hampshire , did in King Henry the Sixth's time , by License Found the Hospital of Ewelm in Oxfordshire , which he appointed to consist of a Master , School-Master , and Thirteen poor Men , and Endowed it with the said Mannor of Ramridge , and other Lands , reserving only to himself the Nomination of the said Master , &c.

That Wayhil-Fair ( being a Fair by Prescription ) has been held time out of mind about Michaelmas-Day on part of the said Mannor called Ramridge-Down , and some part of it on a place called Blissomer-Hall-Acre , and the rest of the Fair on the Glebe of the Rectory of Wayhil , the Advowson whereof was given to Queens-College , Oxon by King Charles the First , and the Incumbents thereof have ever since the Twenty Sixth of Henry the Eighth , paid Forty Shillings to the Crown in the First-Fruits for the casual Profits of Standing of the Fair , which of late Years have been worth to the Incumbent Sixty Pounds a Year .

That ever since the Hospital had the Mannor , they or their Tenants have yearly received about One Hundred and Twenty Pounds for the Pickage and Stallage for Stalls , Booths , Penns and Hurdles for Sheep in the said Fair , which has been the chief Support of the Hospital by Fines , on granting Leases and great Rents .

That the Corporation of Andover , observing that no Toll or Show-Money was paid for Goods , Cattle , or Sheep sold therein , did in the One and Fortieth Year of Queen Elizabeth procure a Grant to them of the Fair at Wayhil , with a Court of Pye-Powder , and License to take Toll , Show-Money , and other usual Perquisites of a Fair , and they got inserted in their Grant likewise the Profits of Pickage and Stallage .

That after this Grant the Fair was always held in the same place as formerly , and the Corporation of Andover did never pretend to any thing more than to the Care and Government of the Fair , and the Toll and the above-mentioned Perquisites .

But the Pickage and Stallage was always paid to the Hospital or their Tenants for breaking the Ground , &c. as Owners of the Soil , the Corporation having no Land there , whereby to have any such Pickage and Stallage .

That the Corporation of Andover , observing the Advantages of Pickage and Stallage to be so considerable , did by their Interest in 1683. procure a New Charter , ( on the Surrender of their former for that purpose ) and thereby got a Clause surreptitiously added , ( not in their old Charter ) to hold the Fair on any part of Wayhil which they could procure , and as they should appoint ; and in pursuance of it , did keep the Fair on Chalderton-Lanes in the Parish of Amport , and not on Wayhil .

That William Drake Esq ; being Tenant of the said Mannor , having setled it on Mr. Goddard in Trust for his Wife for her Joynture , in Consideration of a very Considerable Portion he had with her , this very Hospital-Lease of the Mannor of Ramridge , and Profits of Pickage and Stallage of this Fair , having from the Family of the Noyse ( from whom Mr. Drake is descended ) been ever since King Henry the Eighth's time enjoyed by them .

Mr. Drake and his Wife , and Mr. Goddard , did prefer their Bill in Chancery to quiet them in the ancient Usage of the Fair , and to hinder the Corporation from Removing the Fair to any other place ; and the Corporation insisting , That they being Lords of the Fair , and by their Grant had a Right to take Pickage and Stallage , and a liberty to appoint the Fair in what Place they pleased ; The Chancery , after hearing the Cause , ( wherein 't was proved unquestionably the Hospital and their Tenants Right to have the Fair held on the old Place ) did at the Corporations Request , direct a Tryal at Law for the Ascertaining it ; and at Winchester Assizes 1683 , a Verdict passed for the Right of the Hospital , but the Corporation obtained a new Tryal at the Exchequer Bar , by a special Jury of Hampshire Gentlemen , and there it was found too for the Hospital , and Mr. Drake ( in Right of the Hospital ) had thereupon the Injunction of the Court for to quiet their Possession therein , and till the late King James's time they received the Pickage and Stallage , though the Corporation brought their Quo Warranto .

That the Corporation did afterwards bring on the Cause again before the Lord Chancellor Jefferies , ( who had been a little before incensed against Mrs. Drake for some Words she spoke ) notwithstanding the two Verdicts , and the Locality of the Action , the Lord Jefferies did direct it to be Tryed again at the Kings-Bench Bar , before the Lord Chief Justice Wright , by a Middlesex Jury , and there notwithstanding a full Evidence , and particularly an ancient Presentment Recorded in the Third year of King Henry the Eighth , that Thomas Noyse , then Tenant of the said Mannor , and his Predecessors , time out of mind , had the Right to the Pickage and Stallage , and the place of the Fair , set out particularly , that there could not be the least doubt of it ; And notwithstanding there was at the Tryal likewise produced an ancient Almanack made in the Year 1570 , ( which was in time long before Queen Elizabeth's Grant ) which mentioned Wayhill to be then a principal Fair ; and the place and usage proved by above twenty old Witnesses , yet ( notwithstanding these clear Evidences ) by Chief Justice Wright's Direction , the Jury gave a Verdict for the Corporation , and the Lord Chancellor Jefferies did Order , That Mr. Drake , the Hospitals Tenant should account for the Three Years preceding Profits of Pickage and Stallage to the Corporation , ( notwithstanding they did not pretend any Right to the Soil where the Fair those Years was held ) without which Right no Man can in Law or Reason pretend to Pickage or Stallage ; but nevertheless by compulsion , the said three Years Profits were paid .

That since Their Majesties Accession to the present Government , the Hospital , and Mr. Drake , did bring their Bill of Review against the Corporation ; and the Lord , Commissioners of the Great Seal heard the Cause , and directed it to be Tryed again by a Jury of Hampshire Gentlemen at the Kings Bench Bar ; and after a long Evidence , a Verdict passed for the Hospital , viz. That the Corporation had Right to hold the Fair on the Hospital Down Lands , parcel of the Mannor of Ramridge , and on the Glebe Lands of the Rectory of Wayhill , and Blissomer-Hall-Acre , but had no Right or Power to have , or keep , the Fair on any other place at Wayhill at their Pleasure .

That on the 22d of May last , the Lords Commissoners on the return of that Verdict , did declare themselves fully satisfied therewith ; and did Decree an Injunction , That the Corporation should not hold , or keep the Fair on any other places than in the Verdict , and ordered the Corporation to repay the Money back with Interest that the Lord Chancellor Jefferies had Decreed Mr. Drake to pay , ( which plainly shews the Sentiments of the Court then were , That the Fair should be held in the same Places as formerly ) and in pursuance of that Order , the Corporation paid back the Money with Interest accordingly .

That in pursuance of this Decree , Mr. Drake the Hospital Tenant , in September last , did provide Penns and Hurdles for Sheep , and erected several Booths on the Hospital Lands , called Ramridge-Down , and laid out Ground for to fasten the Hurdles , and to make Penns for Sheep ; and to set Booths and Stalls on the Down , in the same Places as formerly , and did not question but to Receive the benefit thereof on Michaelmass Fair following .

But the Corporation laying claim to the use of the Glebe-land , by vertue of certain Articles made in the Lord Jeffeies Time , and having lately agreed with the Owner of Blissomerhall-Acre , for a small Sum , did appoint the empty Waggons , the Horse-Fair , and other unprofitable things to be set on Mr. Drakes , the Hospital-Ground , of Rambridge-Down ; but the Booths and Stalls for Chapmen , the Penns for Sheep , and other beneficial things , ( the greatest part whereof were heretofore set on the Hospital Ground ) they appointed to be set on the Glebe and Blissomer-Hall-Acre , and several other Lands whereon no part of the Fair ever stood before , whereby the Corporation has got all the Profit of the Fair ; which plainly eludes the Verdict and the Decree : And Mr. Drake , the Hospital-Tenant , who formerly made an Hundred and Twenty Pounds a Year by the Pickage and Stallage , did not , last Michaelmas-Fair make any think at all .

That Mr. Drake , in pursuance of the Decree , as he thought , did appoint Servants to Erect Booths and fasten Penns on the Hospital-Ground , against the Time of the Fair , and the Corporation served them with the Decree of the Chancery , which the Servants ( supposing the right of their side ) unknown to Mr. Drake , used some disrespectful words to the Persons that served the Process , and of the Commissioners of the Great Seal ; whereupon the Corporation , by Petition , on the 15th of Sept. last , informed the Lords Commissioners of Mr. Drakes setting up Penns in other places than the Corporation appointed ; and likewise of the Workmens contempt of the Process ; whereupon Their Lordships , on the Two and Twentieth of the same September last , in the first place did commit to the Fleet , the Workmen , for a supposed Contempt , and did order , That Mr. Drake , the Hospital-Tenant , should not set up any Pens or Booths on the Down-Lands , otherwise than as the Corporation should appoint ; so that Mr. Drake durst not Erect any Penns or Booths on the Hospitals own Ground , left the Lords Commissioners should construe it as a contempt and breach of their Order .

That Mr. Drake and the Hospital looking on this last Order to vary from , and to evade all the benefit of the Decree and Verdict , do therefore pray , That the said Order may be Reversed by the House of Lords ; and that the Defendants may be enjoyned to hold the said Fair as they have held it formerly ( even from the 41st of Queen Eliz. to the 1st Year of King James the Second ) and on the same Places ; And that your Petitioners may have the Privilege of setting up Booths , Stalls , and Penns for Sheep , and other things on the Down-Lands , and of receiving the Profits thereof as formerly ; whereby the Rights of the Hospital , and Rectory of Wayhil will be preserved , and a great advantage will redound to a considerable part of the Nation , who resort to this Fair ; and who , upon the removal of it from off the ancient Places , may be driven from it .