NRS-20789 | Conditional lease registers [Maitland Land Board Office]

These registers contain summary records of conditional leases for land districts controlled by the Maitland Land Board.Under the Crown Land Act of 1884 (48 Vic. No.18) land adjoining an existing conditional purchase could be acquired as a conditional lease. These leases were not to exceed three times the area of the conditional purchase. The selector also gained the right to purchase the area of the conditional lease within five years. Once an application for conditional lease was approved all further information regarding the lease was recorded in these registers. Information recorded included: conditional lease number, date of application and hour lodged, name and address of applicant and transferee if applicable, description of land applied for, rent deposited and rent determined, area allotted by the Board and date of allotment, reference to entry in board minute book, special orders, reference to conditional purchase associated with conditional lease and notice of subsequent action, such as issue of certificate of disallowance or refund order.Most volumes record conditional leases for multiple land districts controlled by the Maitland District Land Board with each district organised separately in an annual and numeric numbering system. Some volumes relate to a single district but are organised similarly.From 1901 Port Macquarie is not included in the all-district registers. Over time, the Port Macquarie Land District was transferred from Maitland to the control of other Land Boards but returned to Maitland in 1924.In the front of each register is an alphabetical index by applicants' surnames. A volume documenting activity in more than one land district will also contain an index of districts.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].