enants) on their estate "in hope to have in the
future enjoyed some benefitt of their great cost and charge." The city of
Londonderry and the town of Coleraine had been rebuilt, and the castle of
Culmore repaired and entrenched. Fifteen churches had been either built or
repaired, besides a "very fair" church and free school which had been
erected in Derry at a cost of more than L4,000. Roads had been made which
had converted one of the most barbarous places in the kingdom into one of
the most civilised. The society and the companies, the petition went on to
say, had enjoyed this estate without interruption until Hilary Term a deg. 6
Charles I (1631), when the Attorney-General, Sir Robert Heath, exhibited
an information against the mayor, commonalty and citizens of London and
divers individuals, suggesting that they had possessed themselves of the
said lands and taken the profits before any grant was made to them, and
that they had a greater quantity of lands than was intended to be passed
by the grant, and had by indirect means procured divers privileges to be
inserted in the grant for which the Attorney General who passed the grant
had no warrant. Evidence of witnesses had been taken on the matter, but
before the cause came to a hearing this information was dropt and another
exhibited in Hilary Term a deg. 8 Charles I (1633) against the petitioners and
the Irish Society, in which new charges touching infringement of
conditions of Letters Patent were inserted, and upon these pretences the
Irish Society was adjudged by sentence of the Court of Star Chamber in
Hilary Term a deg. 10 Charles I (1635) to pay a fine of L70,000 and to lose
their estate on the ground that the said Letters Patent had been "unduly
and surreptitiously obteyned to the prejudice and deceipt of his
majestie." The companies refused to surrender their estates, and divers
lands belonging to the City and to the Bridgehouse were seized to satisfy
the fine, to the great prejudice of the City. Being otherwise unable to
redeem themselves from the penalty of the Star Chamber sentence, the
companies were forced to consent to relinquish their Irish estate and all
arrears of rent, amounting to L20,000. A _scire facias_ was brought in and
judgment allowed by default, whereupon the companies lost their estates,
whilst the mayor and commonalty and citizens of London, although not
parties to any patent or plantation--having done no more than lend their
name for the bet