NRS-13956 | Register of applications to purchase land on Gold Fields [Surveyor General]

According to the Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1861 'Crown Lands within proclaimed Gold Fields and not within areas excluded by special proclamation and not occupied for gold mining purposes shall be open for conditional sale subject to all the provisions applicable to sales under the thirteenth section of this Act Provided that at any period persons specially authorized by the Minister shall be at liberty to dig and search for gold within the lands selected and that should the land be found to contain auriferous deposits it shall be in the power of the Governor and Executive Council to annul the sale and thereupon the conditional purchaser shall be entitled to compensation for the value other than auriferous of the lands and improvements such value to be determined by appraisement.' (1) Gold Fields could be proclaimed in the Government Gazette under the Gold Fields Act of 1861. (2)This volume includes applications received between 4 September 1860 and 9 February 1862 to purchase land primarily on gold fields but also includes applications for land in pastoral runs and towns in virtue of improvements. Entries include such areas as: Adelong Gold Fields, Araluen Gold Field, Bingera Gold Fields, Burrangong Gold Fields, Burrendong Gold Fields, Hanging Rock Gold Field, Little River Gold Field,  Long Flat Gold Fields, Peel River Gold Fields, Rocky River Gold Field, Stony Creek Gold Field, Tuena Gold Field, Wattle Flat and Sofala in the Western Gold Field, Meroo Diggings and also Towns including Burrowa, Lambing Flat, Elrington, Hargraves, Tambaroora, Merriwa and Prospect (near Parramatta).In most cases, details are given of dwelling houses and cottages which had been erected on the land.  Other improvements recorded include inns and public houses, stables, sheep stations, sheep yards, woolsheds, gardens, blacksmith's shops and bakehouses.The details given are: registration number, name of applicant, residence, date of application, area, value of improvements, situation and description. Some entries include references to correspondence wtih Gold Commissioners and others. The latest annotation in this volume is dated 17 September 1872.Endnotes1. Crown Lands Alienation Act of 1861 (25 Vic. No.1), s.14.2. Gold Fields Act of 1861 (25 Vic. No.4), s.3.(9/804). 1 vol. Note:This description, as amended, is extracted from Concise Guide to the State Archives of New South Wales, 3rd Edition 2000.