NRS-14577 | Pastoral Inspectors field books

Pastoral Inspectors field books contain assessments of improvements to Western Lands Leases, conditional purchases, etc. These records contain the names of holdings, locality, time of inspection and instructions. They are sometimes numbered and most have the name of the Inspector. All volumes are handwritten and some include diagrams.The Western Lands (Amendment) Act 1949 (Act No.45, 1949) s.2 amended the principal Western Lands Act 1901 (Act No.70, 1901) with the insertion of s.17ccc. This section authorised the withdrawal of areas of land from Lease arrangements upon assessment. There are a number of volumes referring to 17ccc Inspections, these volumes record the assessment of a Lease against the criteria established in the Act.The volumes record field visits or inspections made by Pastoral Inspectors to holdings to view the activities on the runs and to inspect compliance with lease arrangements. This included notes of improvements to the property, estimated carrying capacity, and lists of items like bores and dams, buildings, bridges and a valuation of the land and the improvements. Some Pastoral Inspectors were trained surveyors and included some survey information.The records are small bound notebooks and the name of the holding is usually written on the cover.