VPRS 13073 Register of Licensees, Geelong, Section 19 Land Act 1869

Under section 19 of the Land Act 1869 selectors could apply for a three-year licence to occupy Crown land. The rent was set at two shillings per acre and a maximum of 320 acres per selector was allowed. On application a deposit of half a years rent was paid. If the application was refused, the deposit was refunded. Section 20 of the Act placed conditions on the three-year licence; selectors were required to improve their allotment by the erection of fencing and a dwelling, cultivation of their land and the destruction of vermin and noxious weeds. After the licence term had expired, the selector was eligible to apply for a seven-year lease or a Crown Grant to purchase their allotment. Grants or leases were only approved if improvement conditions had been met. If a selector opted for a seven-year lease, the yearly rent was used to pay off the purchase price of the land.As this land had already been surveyed for mining purposes and to determine the extent of the auriferous (or gold-bearing) lands, applications could be ruled upon efficiently and expeditiously. An application under this section of the Act was able to be submitted to either the Department of Crown Lands and Survey in Melbourne or at the office of the local representative or agent for the department. The application would be registered in an Applications Register and allocated a number in order of receipt. Applications submitted under Section 19 Land Act 1869 would go before a Local Lands Board (see Section 100 Land Act 1869).The functions of Local Lands Boards were to investigate and report upon every application, to protect the public and local interests and promote the advantageous occupation of land. Local Lands Boards included in their membership the Surveyor-General, the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Survey, the Secretary for Mines, chairmen and members of Mining Boards and Shire Councils and were assisted by District Surveyors, other officers of the Department and Mining Surveyors who had made the surveys of the sites applied for. These Local Lands Boards were held in district centres and other principal centres of population. The decision with respect to the application arrived at by the Local Lands Board was then entered in the Applications Register.With the granting of the application, application then had to be made to the Governor-in-Council, as prescribed in the Act, to grant a licence of occupation to the successful applicant. In the same way, cancellations and / or revocations of licences and transfers of licences had to be approved by the Governor-in-Council. Some of these records may be seen in VPRS 863 Orders in Council Regarding the Issue and Cancellation of Licences , Land Acts 1865 and 1869.Once this leave had been granted by the Governor-in-Council, the licence was issued and an entry was then made in the Licence Register. These registers were arranged firstly by district or group of contiguous districts and then in alphabetical sections according to family name of the licensee. The Licence Register provided a record of the number of the licence issued (different to the application number), the location and size of the land licensed for occupation, the payment of rents and, in the remarks column, the subsequent history of that holding of land and of the licence to occupy it. This series was used to record details relating to licenses granted under Section 19 Land Act 1869 prior to the administrative reorganisation of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey with the establishment of the Occupation Branch and the District Land Offices.Files were created for applications and licenses granted under Sections 19 and 20 Land Act 1869 and these may be able to be found in VPRS 625/P Selection Files, Sections 19 and 20, Land Act 1869. It is possible that some file numbers are recorded in the Registers of Licensees with either the numerator or denominator as the section (19) and the other figure the file number.VPRS 13073/P1 was previously registered as VPRS 1290/P Unit 4. It was reserialised in 2002.