VPRS 13803 Rent Roll, Portland, Section 29 Land Act 1898 and Section 35 Land Act 1901

All licenses for the occupation of Crown lands and leases of Crown lands required the payment of rent in amounts and at intervals as stated by legislation or regulations made under the authority of legislation. Rents could be paid either by post or personally to the Melbourne office of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538) or to local Receivers and Paymasters as designated for each parish and Land District (subsequent to the formation of the Occupation Branch in c 1874). Receivers and Paymasters were often local Clerks of Courts.Previous to the passage of the Land Act of 1869, the payment of rents had been recorded in Registers of Licensees and Lessees. These continued for Section 33 of the Land Act 1869 and at the offices of local Receivers and Paymasters. Within the Department of Crown Lands itself and the Occupation Branch these Registers were superseded by the Rent Rolls.Details given in the rent rolls are the name of the licensee or lessee, the details of the location and size of the land, details of the payments of fees and of the date and amount of regular periodic payments of rent. Remarks include details of subsequent purchase of the land, of any transfers of leases or licenses to other holders and the subsequent payments made by those persons, any cancellation or revocation or instances of abandonment of the land by the occupier.Notifications of rents due at a particular date were circulated by notice or by lists published in the Government Gazette. The latter allowed local officers to be aware of the rents due in their areas. When the rents were paid to these officers, the payments were recorded in the local records and returns forwarded to the Department. Examples of these records may be seen in VPRS 809 Returns of Pastoral Rents Received. At the Occupation Branch, clerks (the rent rollers) were employed whose sole duties were the updating and maintenance of the rent rolls and preparation of certificates documenting payments where these were to be credited against the purchase price of land. Originally from about 1877, a rent roll clerk was attached to each "District Land Office" within the Occupation Branch.Rent rolls, like registers of applications, were arranged according to sections of a specific Land Act. For major provisions such as Sections 19 and 20, Land Act 1869 or Section 29, Land Act 1898 and Section 35, Land Act 1901, the rent roll recorded only payments relating to that section. Payments for obligations under other sections of the Land Acts could be included together in one roll. Separate rolls were kept for payments made in each Land District.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.From late 1907 the Department of Crown Lands and Survey began changing to cards for its recordkeeping systems with the rent roll being reported as mainly on cards by 1917.

所有王室土地占用许可证及王室土地租赁协议均要求按立法规定或立法授权制定的规章所载明的金额与周期支付租金。租金可通过邮寄或亲自交至王室土地与测量部（Department of Crown Lands and Survey，VA 538）墨尔本办事处，或交至为各教区及土地分区指定的当地收款与出纳员（Receivers and Paymasters）——此安排自1874年左右占用处（Occupation Branch）成立后生效。收款与出纳员通常由当地法院书记员（Clerks of Courts）兼任。1869年《土地法案》（Land Act of 1869）通过前，租金支付情况记录在《持照人与承租人登记簿（Registers of Licensees and Lessees）》中。这些登记簿在1869年《土地法案》第33条项下及当地收款与出纳员办事处继续使用，而在王室土地与测量部内部及占用处，则被租金册（Rent Rolls）取代。租金册中记载的详情包括持照人或承租人姓名、土地位置与面积详情、费用支付详情及定期租金支付的日期与金额；备注内容涵盖土地后续购买详情、租赁或许可证转让给其他持有人的情况及受让人后续支付记录、占用者取消、撤销或放弃土地的实例。特定日期到期租金的通知通过公告或《政府公报（Government Gazette）》刊登的清单发布，后者使地方官员能够了解其辖区内到期的租金情况。当租金交至这些官员处时，支付情况记录在当地档案中，并将报表提交至该部，此类记录的示例可见于VPRS 809《已收牧用租金报表（Returns of Pastoral Rents Received）》。占用处雇佣了专门职员（租金册管理员，rent rollers），其唯一职责是更新和维护租金册，并准备付款凭证——这些款项可抵作土地购买价款。约自1877年起，占用处内每个“地区土地办事处（District Land Office）”均配备一名租金册管理员。租金册与申请登记簿一样，按特定《土地法案》的条款分类编排：对于1869年《土地法案》第19条与第20条、1898年《土地法案》第29条及1901年《土地法案》第35条等主要条款，租金册仅记录与该条款相关的支付情况；《土地法案》其他条款项下的应付款项可合并记录在一份租金册中，各土地分区的支付情况则单独立卷。1898年《土地法案》第29条（后并入1901年《综合土地法案》第35条）取代1884年《土地法案》第32条，成为从王室租赁牧用土地的依据。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及二等租赁土地中选取，牧用用地可从三等及四等租赁土地中选取。1907年末起，王室土地与测量部开始将记录系统改为卡片式，至1917年，租金册已主要采用卡片形式。