VPRS 13516 Register of Applications, Stawell, Section 29 Land Act 1898 and Section 35 Land Act 1901 (Stawell District Survey Office)

This series was created by the District Survey Office at Stawell. It is duplicated by Register of Applications, Stawell, Section 29 Land Act 1898 and Section 35 Land Act 1901 (Occupation Branch) (VPRS 13515) which is the register created by the 'Stawell District Office' at the Occupation Branch.VPRS 13516 / P1 was previously registered as Unit 52 of VPRS 455 / P Application Registers, Land Act 1898.Section 29 of the Land Act 1898 (later Section 35 under the consolidated Land Act 1901) succeeded Section 32, Land Act 1884 as the means whereby grazing areas could be leased from the Crown. Land was able to be leased for any term until 29 December 1920 when the land would revert to the Crown. Land was divided into classes for the purpose of the lease. Two hundred acres of first-class land might be leased, 640 acres of second-class land, 1280 acres of third-class land and 1920 acres of fourth-class land. A permanent agricultural allotment could be selected from leaseholds of first and second-class land and a grazing allotment from third and fourth-class land.When an application to select Crown land was received by the Department it would be registered in a register of applications. The contents of registers of applications were arranged alphabetically and application numbers were allocated consecutively in blocks for each letter of the alphabet.Separate registers of applications were usually created for each section of the Land Act under which individuals could apply to select land. For example, all applications received under Section 29 of the Land Act 1898 were recorded in the same register. Sections of an Act that were less common, however, were often recorded together in the one register.In an attempt to try and rationalise the way the Department managed Crown land, the Occupation Branch was established in 1874 under the influence of H Byron Moore, Assistant Surveyor General. The Occupation Branch was to deal with all matters relating to the occupation of Crown land.The State was divided into fifteen Land Districts, these being Ararat, Ballarat, Beechworth, Benalla, Castlemaine and Dunolly, Echuca, Geelong Warrnambool and Camperdown, Hamilton, Horsham, Melbourne, Sale and Bairnsdale, Sandhurst (Bendigo), Seymour and St Arnaud. Each District was represented at the Occupation Branch in Melbourne by a 'District Land Office'.Each District Land Office consisted of a double table or desk at which both a clerk and draughtsman sat. Everything in the way of files, maps and plans were at convenient reach. The same officers dealt with the sale of Crown land from its 'inception to its disposition'. The District Offices' staff consisted essentially of a clerical officer and a draughtsman who dealt solely with that Land District. It was their business to know the District and to deal with all land business related to it. By 1877 each District Land Office, consisted of a District Officer, a rental clerk, a draughtsman and several general clerks.After the establishment of the Occupation Branch in 1874 and the division of the State into Land Districts, applications were registered by District. Each 'District Land Office' created and maintained their own series of registers of applications. Any new applications received by the Department after 1874 were registered in separate District registers with applications numbers that were allocated from the number one onwards. The same application number could be allocated for selections in different Districts. For example, the application number 1021/32 could exist in both the Ballarat and Bendigo Land Districts. It is the District name plus the accompanying file number that is the unique identifier.Applicants completed an application form at District Survey Offices. Most Land Districts had a District Survey Office. The District Surveyor would enter the applicants' details in a register of applications kept at the District Survey Office. The register of applications allocated a number to each applicant. The application number was written on the application to select and subsequently became their land selection file number if their application was approved.The District Surveyor would enter into the register of applications the application number, the date the application was received, the applicants' name, occupation and parish, the allotment number and size (acres, roods and perches) applied for. The application was then forwarded to the appropriate District Land Office at the Occupation Branch in Melbourne. It was then entered in a duplicate register of applications there against the same application number. The District Surveyor also forwarded a tracing of the allotment applied for.The location of the allotment applied for was immediately charted on a working plan in pencil. The tracing was then sent to the Department of Mines and Water Supply (VA 2720) for a report on any mining objections. If there were no mining objections the application would be heard before a Local Land Board. Local Land Boards were made up of representatives from the local community and the Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538). The Boards would hear from all applicants for an allotment and would decide who was to be granted the licence or lease. The schedule documenting the decisions of the Local Land Board was forwarded to the appropriate District Land Office at the Occupation Branch and the decision was entered into the register of applications.The Board of Land and Works (VA 744), the statutory authority for the management of Crown land, would give final approval for land selection, acting on the recommendation of the Local Land Board. The decision of the Board of Lands and Works (VA 744) was then recorded in the register of applications. The registers also record the date of the licence or lease issued and any subsequent action in relation to that file. The selectors granted each allotment would then be recorded on the working plan by the District Land Office draughtsman at the Occupation Branch. The tracing of the allotment was then sent to the Crown Land Bailiff responsible for that Land District.Registers of applications control selection and occupation files. If an application to select Crown land was successful, the application number would become the file number. For example, if an application to select under Section 29 of the Land Act 1898 was registered as application number 324 then the selection or occupation file number would be 324/29.The application number remained the selection file number for a particular piece of land if all terms and conditions were met. Many selectors forfeited or abandoned their licence or lease. If this were the case then the land was re-opened up for selection. Any new applicants were registered in a register of applications under a new application number. The original applicants file would be attached to the new selectors file. The new file number was annotated in the register against the original selectors' entry.Even if the same selector applied for a licence on land he had previously forfeited, a new application number would be allocated and the file would have a new selection file number.

本系列由斯托韦尔地区测量办公室（District Survey Office）创建。

该系列由斯托韦尔申请登记册（Register of Applications, Stawell）复制，对应1898年《土地法案》第29条及1901年《土地法案》第35条（占用处）（VPRS 13515）——此登记册由占用处（Occupation Branch）下属的“斯托韦尔地区办公室”创建。

VPRS 13516/P1此前曾登记为1898年《土地法案》申请登记册（VPRS455/P）的第52单元。

1898年《土地法案》第29条（后在1901年综合《土地法案》中改为第35条）取代了1884年《土地法案》第32条，成为从王室租赁牧场（grazing areas）的依据。土地可租赁任意期限，直至1920年12月29日归还王室。为租赁目的，土地被划分为不同等级：一等土地可租赁200英亩，二等640英亩，三等1280英亩，四等1920英亩。永久农业用地可从一等和二等租赁土地中选择，放牧用地则从三等和四等中选择。

当部门收到王室土地选择申请时，会将其登记在申请登记册中。申请登记册的内容按字母顺序排列，申请编号按字母块连续分配。

通常为《土地法案》下的每个条款单独创建申请登记册，供个人申请土地选择。例如，所有根据1898年《土地法案》第29条收到的申请均记录在同一登记册中。然而，不太常见的法案条款申请往往会合并记录在同一登记册中。

为优化部门管理王室土地的方式，占用处（Occupation Branch）于1874年在助理测量总监H·拜伦·摩尔（H Byron Moore）的推动下成立。占用处负责处理所有与王室土地占用相关的事务。

该州被划分为15个土地区，包括阿拉拉特、巴拉瑞特、比奇沃思、贝纳拉、卡斯尔梅恩与杜诺利、埃丘卡、吉朗-沃纳姆堡与坎珀当、汉密尔顿、霍舍姆、墨尔本、塞尔与拜恩斯代尔、桑德赫斯特（本迪戈）、西摩及圣阿诺德。每个地区在墨尔本占用处均设有“地区土地办公室”代表。

每个地区土地办公室配备一张双人桌，文员和绘图员并排就座。文件、地图和规划等资料均触手可及。同一批人员负责王室土地出售的“从立项到处置”全过程。地区办公室的工作人员主要包括一名文员和一名绘图员，专门处理该土地区的事务。他们的职责是了解该地区并处理所有相关土地业务。到1877年，每个地区土地办公室已配备一名地区官员、一名租金文员、一名绘图员及数名普通文员。

1874年占用处成立并将州划分为土地区后，申请按地区登记。每个“地区土地办公室”创建并维护自己的申请登记册系列。1874年后部门收到的任何新申请均登记在单独的地区登记册中，申请编号从1开始依次分配。不同地区的选择申请可能分配到相同的申请编号。例如，申请编号1021/32可能同时存在于巴拉瑞特和本迪戈土地区。唯一标识符是地区名称加上附带的文件编号。

申请人在地区测量办公室（District Survey Office）填写申请表。大多数土地区设有地区测量办公室。地区测量员会将申请人的详细信息录入地区测量办公室保存的申请登记册中。申请登记册为每位申请人分配一个编号。申请编号会填写在选择申请表上，若申请获批，则随后成为其土地选择文件编号。

地区测量员会在申请登记册中录入申请编号、申请接收日期、申请人姓名、职业和教区、申请的地块编号及面积（英亩、路得和派尺）。申请随后会转发至墨尔本占用处的相应地区土地办公室，并在那里的重复申请登记册中对应同一申请编号录入。地区测量员还会转发申请地块的草图。

申请地块的位置会立即用铅笔绘制在工作图上。草图随后会发送至矿业与供水部（VA 2720），以获取有关矿业异议的报告。若无矿业异议，申请将提交地方土地委员会（Local Land Board）审议。地方土地委员会由当地社区代表及王室土地与测量部（VA 538）人员组成。委员会会听取所有申请同一地块的申请人的陈述，并决定授予谁许可证或租赁权。记录地方土地委员会决定的时间表会转发至占用处的相应地区土地办公室，并将决定录入申请登记册。

王室土地管理的法定机构——土地与工程委员会（Board of Land and Works）（VA 744）会根据地方土地委员会的建议，对土地选择给予最终批准。土地与工程委员会（VA 744）的决定随后会录入申请登记册。登记册还会记录许可证或租赁权的签发日期及与该文件相关的任何后续行动。获得地块的选择者随后会由占用处的地区土地办公室绘图员记录在工作图上。地块草图随后会发送至负责该土地区的王室土地法警。

申请登记册控制选择和占用文件。若王室土地选择申请成功，申请编号将成为文件编号。例如，根据1898年《土地法案》第29条提交的选择申请若登记为申请编号324，则其选择或占用文件编号为324/29。

若满足所有条款和条件，申请编号将保持为特定地块的选择文件编号。许多选择者会放弃或终止其许可证或租赁权。在此情况下，该土地将重新开放供选择。任何新申请人将在申请登记册中以新申请编号登记。原申请人的文件会附在新选择者的文件上。新文件编号会在登记册中原选择者的条目旁注明。

即使同一选择者申请其先前放弃的土地的许可证，也会分配新的申请编号，文件将有新的选择文件编号。