VPRS 835 Applications for Grant and Lease, Sections 21 and 22 Land Act 1862

Under the Land Act 1862, land was surveyed and then offered as allotments divided into two equal subdivisions at the price of one pound per acre. Selectors could purchase both subdivisions (A and B) or could purchase one subdivision and lease the other one leading to eventual purchase. Section 22 of the Act set out the terms of this lease which was to be for eight years with a yearly rent of two shillings and sixpence per acre. At any time in this period or at the end of it, the subdivision could be purchased by the payment of the difference (if any) between the rent paid and the price of one pound per acre.Applications were to be made in the form set down in the Schedules to the Act in person at a land office and be accompanied by the purchase price of the whole lot or the purchase price for half and one years rent in advance for the other half. Applications were to be entered into a register, which was to be open to public inspection, by the land officer . The priority of the order of applications was to be determined by lot. Any refusal of an application was to be notified within thirty days in the Government Gazette with the reasons for refusal or disallowance being given.The files in this series consist of the applications according to the Schedules of the Act nominating the subdivision for which a lease was being applied for and a draft of the lease issued. Leases, as well as setting out the terms, showed the situation of the land (by agricultural area and parish), the number on the survey may (allotment and subdivision), the area of the land and the boundaries as defied by survey. Where a grant was applied for, a working paper is filed giving the name, address and occupation of the applicant, the amount to be paid, the location and area of the land and the map references.