VPRS 14136 Rent Roll Cards, Melbourne Land District, All Sections

From mid-1907, a card system was introduced within the Occupation Branch of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey. For each new file generated by a successful application to lease or be licensed to occupy Crown land, two cards were created and maintained. One was to record the application and the later management of the file replacing the Registers of Applications created by the Occupation Branch. The other was to record the details of payments of rents and other fees replacing the rent roll volumes. The details for active files recorded in these volumes were progressively transferred to cards.Details given on the rent roll cards are the name of the licensee or lessee, the details of the location and size of the land, details of the payments of fees and of the date and amount of regular periodic payments of rent. Remarks include details of subsequent purchase of the land, of any transfers of leases or licences to other holders and the subsequent payments made by those persons, any cancellations or revocations and any instances of abandonment of the land by the occupier.All licenses for the occupation of Crown lands and leases of Crown lands required the payment of rent in amounts and at intervals as stated by legislation or regulations made under the authority of legislation. Rents could be paid either by post or personally to the Melbourne office of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538) or to local Receivers and Paymasters as designated for each parish and Land District (subsequent to the formation of the Occupation Branch in c 1874). Receivers and Paymasters were often local Clerks of Courts.Notifications of rents due at a particular date were circulated by notice or by lists published in the Government Gazette. The latter allowed local officers to be aware of the rents due in their areas. When the rents were paid to these officers, the payments were recorded in the local records and returns forwarded to the Department. Examples of these records may be seen in VPRS 809 Returns of Pastoral Rents Received. At the Occupation Branch, clerks (the rent rollers) were employed whose sole duties was the updating and maintenance of the rent rolls and preparation of certificates documenting payments where these were to be credited against the purchase price of land. Originally from about 1877, a rent roll clerk was attached to each District Land Office within the Occupation Branch.Cards in this series relate primarily to agricultural and grazing licenses and leases and selection purchase leases under the 1911 Land Act. Others relate to Sections 121, 129 and 86 of the Land Act 1915 and Section 29, Land Act 1898 (later Section 35, Land Act 1901).Sections 44 (Licensing) and 46 (Lease and Grant) of the Land Act 1898 divided lands into three classes for the purpose of the licensing or leasing of agricultural allotments. No more than 200 acres of first-class lands were to be licensed at the rent of one shilling per acre per annum; no more than three hundred and twenty acres of second-class land at the annual rental of ninepence per acre. Both types of land were to be licensed for no more than six years.In the 1898 Act, Sections 58 and 59 provided for the extension of the licensing and leasing provisions for agricultural allotments to grazing allotments. Sections 59 and 61 of the Land Act 1898 allowed for the issue of residential or non-residential licenses for grazing allotments on third-class land. A license to occupy could initially be issued for up to six years for 640 acres. If conditions relating to the provision of fencing and the destruction of vermin were met, a lease for 14 years could be obtained at a cost of sixpence per acre. Rent payments could be used to defray the cost of purchase at ten shillings per acre.Under the consolidated Land Act of 1901, agricultural allotments were dealt with under Sections 47 (licensing) and 49 (leasing) and grazing allotments by Sections 54 (licensing) and 56 (leasing).Section 6 of the Land Act 1911 brought these provisions to an end. As an alternative, the option of taking out a selection purchase lease was offered with a period of twenty years being offered to fulfil the payment conditions for either a residential selection purchase lease (Section 8) or a non-residential selection purchase lease (Section 13). Conditions and covenants of these leases were laid down in Section 11.Section 65 of the Land Act 1884 (later Section 103, Land Act 1901 and Section 86, Land Act 1915) provided for the annual licensing of the occupation of auriferous (gold bearing) lands. Areas licensed were to be of no more than 20 acres with only one license being allowed for each individual. There was to be no sale of these lands. This section was amended by Section 90 of the Land Act 1898 providing for the appraisal of these lands. If the value of the land was appraised to be more than the rent already paid on them, the subsequent rental was to be no more than two shillings and sixpence per annum with no annual license fee.Sections 93 and 91 of the Land Act 1884 (subsequently Section 99, Land Act 1890, Section 145 of the Land Act 1901 and subsequently Section 129, Land Act 1915) provided for the licensing or leasing of Crown lands for a multitude of purposes such as rural businesses, the removal of raw materials and other purposes none of which were to be agricultural or grazing. Licenses were renewable annually at a fee to be set. Leases under the 1884 Act for these purposes were to be of no more than three acres at an annual rental of five pounds.Section 119, Land Act 1884 provided for the issuing of grazing licenses for Crown lands not otherwise held. This provision continued as Section 123, Land Act 1890, Section 187 of the Land Act 1901 and subsequently Section 121, Land Act 1915.Section 29 of the Land Act 1898 (later Section 35 under the consolidated Land Act 1901) succeeded Section 32, Land Act 1884 as the means whereby grazing areas could be leased from the Crown. Land was able to be leased for any term until 29 December 1920 when the land would revert to the Crown. Land was divided into classes for the purpose of the lease. Two hundred acres of first-class land might be leased, 640 acres of second-class land, 1280 acres of third-class land and 1920 acres of fourth-class land. A permanent agricultural allotment could be selected from leaseholds of first and second-class land and a grazing allotment from third and fourth-class land.