§ MR. FORSYTHasked the First Commissioner of Works, To inform the House in whom the ownership is vested of the piece of land on the north side of the Thames Embankment, between Hungerford Bridge and the gardens of Montagu House, and how long it is intended to allow the same to remain unoccupied and waste?
§ MR. W. H. SMITH, in reply, said, that the land referred to by the hon. Gentleman was the piece of land which was marked on the plan in the Schedule to the Thames Embankment (Land) Act of 1873 as belonging to the Crown. By that Act the Metropolitan Board of Works, in the event of their acquiring Northumberland House, were empowered to acquire also the land in question for the purposes of a public garden. An agreement had now been entered into with the Duke for the purchase of Northumberland House on July 7, and land would then be conveyed by the Crown to the Metropolitan Board of Works, and would be laid out as a garden in accordance with the Act.