VPRS 863 Orders-In-Council

This series consists of the Orders-in-Council relating to transfers, mortgages, issues, variations and revocations of Land licences and leases. Each file contained a file cover with a brief description of the revocation, issue or variation, and the details of the Sections of the Land Acts covering them.Consignment P0 of this series consists of the Orders-in-Council relating to the surrender, forfeiture or revocation and issuing or re-issuing of licences under Section 42 of the Land Act 1865, Sections 19 and 49 of the Land Act 1869, and Sections 8 and 11 of the Land Act 1878. This consignment had been artificially organised as a separate subject based series before other documents clarifying its organisational structure were discovered. As a reflection of this, units 1 and 4 are organised chronologically in year group bundles. An EC number is recorded on them, but no XC number. Units 2 and 3 are organised by the XC number.Consignment P1 of this series was formerly registered as the artificially constructed series VPRS 855. It consists of recommendations to the Governor in Council that leaseholds be transferred or mortgaged under Section 20 of Land Act 1869, or that writs of Fieri Facias against the leasehold be registered, or that succession to interest in licences be sanctioned. Fieri Facias were judicial writs served against debtors, such as those whose rent was in arrears, in order to obtain the owed amount from the defendants' goods or real estate.Consignments P2, P3, and P4 consist of a mixture of licences and leaseholds from a variety of Land Acts, including the ones represented in earlier consignments.The XC number was the register number, located on the files in an oval Lands and Survey Departmental stamp (usually in the top left corner). This number was allocated by VPRS 14001 Register of Orders-in-Council, which dealt with Governor-in-Council matters relating to licences and leases. The register number was referred to as the XC number in other Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538) documents (such as VPRS 14003 Business Sheets - Agenda Recommendations). The control number for this series was the XC number, although other numbers were also recorded on the file.The Executive Council stamp stating the date of approval of the Order by the Governor-in-Council was recorded at the bottom right corner of the file. The Order was submitted for the Decision of His Excellency the Governor-in-Council by the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey, and bears his signature and the date of submission. Early files may also bear the signature of the President of the Board of Land and Works (VA 744), and the Board of Land and Works Schedule number (see VPRS 11870 Schedule of Land Grants, Leases, Licences and Sales Submitted for Approval to the Board of Land and Works). The cover sheet may also include the date and page number of entry in the Government Gazette, the name of the examining officer, land file numbers, or correspondence numbers.The majority of file covers have the letters EC followed by an annual single number recorded on them near the top left corner. The EC stands for Executive Council, and the accompanying number is the year and number of the Order-in-Council. This number refers to the register entry number of VPRS 14000 Registry of Papers Submitted for the Decision of His Excellency the Governor-in-Council. This register records the ultimate location of all Lands Department papers submitted to the Executive Council, many of which were subsequently attached to Lands Files or Correspondence Files. Files also assigned an XC number were recorded as being sent to the Chief Clerk. Other files located in this series without an XC number were forwarded to Mallee Branch, Village Settlement Branch, Correspondence Branch and other divisions of the department.A schedule is usually attached to the file covers, which may contain the following: names of applicants, licence numbers (usually either C or D licences) or lease numbers, parish location, acreage, correspondence or land file numbers, allotment and section numbers, any special conditions the licence or lease was issued under, date of surrendered licence, date of licence to be issued, term, payment, fees for certificate and licence, the total amount of first payment, the amount of license fees (if any) to be credited, and the location of the Receiver of Revenue.By 1935, an administrative change occurred within the Lands Department which saw a division of Orders-in-Council relating to lands licences and leases. By 1935, Orders-in-Council dealing with the Issue of Grants and Leases were collated in a separate series (VPRS 14602 - Executive Council Schedules), and not assigned an XC number. Orders-in-Council relating to other aspects, such as the surrender of leases and the alteration of classifications, continued to be collated in this series.