NRS-20794 | Special lease registers [Maitland Land Board Office]

These registers contain summary records of special leases in land districts controlled by the Maitland Land Board Office.Under the Crown Lands Act of 1884 (48 Vic. No.18) special leases were introduced so land could be leased for a number of miscellaneous purposes including residence, grazing and agriculture. The conditions for each special lease were determined by the local land board, as was the annual rent.The registers record information such as application number, name and address of the applicant, date of the application, date of receipt of the application by the Board, description of the land applied for, the purpose for which the land is required, recommendation by the board, reference to the minute book, date of Gazette, the term of the lease including rent, short particulars of conditions which necessitate inspection, and remarks.Most volumes record applications for special leases in multiple land districts controlled by the Maitland District Land Board, with each district organised separately with an annual and numeric numbering system. In the front of each register is an alphabetical index by applicants' surnames. A volume documenting activity in more than one land district also contains an index to the districts.After 1890, the Port Macquarie land district is omitted from the 'all district' registers and, from 1901 to 1911, it has its own register, organised annually and numerically. Over time, the Port Macquarie Land District was transferred from Maitland to the control of other Land Boards but returned to Maitland in 1924.Volume 2, covering 1894-1898, and volumes 7 and 8, covering the period 1905-1908 are not held. The register relating to the Port Macquarie land district does not bear a volume number.Department of Lands circular 12/1935 states that by 31 December 1935 bound registers should be replaced by a card system. (1)Endnote1. NRS 8801, Department of Lands circulars [Crown Land Agent Dungog].