VPRS 627 Land Selection Files, Section 31 Land Act 1869

The Land Act of 1869, Section 31 gave a pre-emptive right of purchase to holders of occupation licenses under Section 42 of the Amending Land Act 1865 (regulating the occupation of auriferous lands). Various conditions had to be met for this right to be exercised. The licensee had to have occupied the land for at least two and a half years, have made improvements to the land and no objection to the alienation of the land was made on the grounds that it was auriferous (gold-bearing) or on other grounds of a public nature. License fees already paid were to be credited against the purchase price with the Board of Land and Works to grant the licensee a certificate specifying the amount of land and survey fees paid during the period of occupation. The licensee also had the option of taking a lease on the land under the same conditions and paying the purchase price in ten equal instalments. The files in this series are those created to record the progress of an application through these various stages. The first part of the file is the one originally created for the application for, granting and administration of an occupation license under Section 42 Amending Land Act 1865. (Details of these occupation licenses may be found in the text for VPRS 624 Application Files, Section 42 Amending Land Act 1865). The file then has the standard Application for a Certificate of Rent and Survey Fees Paid which gives the dates of occupation, the location and other details of the land. The certificate issued by the Board of Land and Works gave the details of the amount required for the balance of the purchase money, the cost of the fee for the certificate, for a Crown Grant and the assurance fee. These documents may be followed by an Application to Purchase which had to be forwarded with the certificate previously issued by the Board. This second application necessitated a report from the land bailiff regarding the nature and value of the improvements made to the land and a plan of the land. As well, there may be a report from the District Surveyor regarding objections to the alienation of the land The application was referred to the Department of Mines for any other objections to the alienation of the land and the application or the file cover sheet will usually have an annotation with that Department's response. The file may also contain correspondence between the applicant and the Department of Crown Lands and Survey in regard to the application. A face sheet on the front of the file gives the file number and a summary of the actions taken in processing the application. It is apparent that the original number allocated in VPRS 13118 Registers of Applications, Section 31 Land Act 1869 was also to be the file number as found in VPRS 627 Land Selection Files, Land Act 1869, Section 31. However, for a number of applicants there was an appreciable gap between their initial application for a certificate and an application to purchase or lease the land or other difficulties occurred through objections to the alienation of the land. When these occurred, a new file number was allocated. Previous papers were then attached to this file and the new file number recorded in the Reference Number columns of the Registers of Applications. This final file number is the one used on the Parish Plans and under which the file was stored. The application number remained the selection file number for a particular piece of land if all terms and conditions were met and the selection resulted in a Crown Grant. However, often the original selector did not end up owning the land. Many selectors forfeited or abandoned or transferred the piece of land. If this was the case, then the land was re-opened for selection. Any new applicants were registered in a register of applications under a new application number. The original applicants file would be attached to the new selectors file. The new file number was annotated in the register against the original selectors' entry. Even if the same selector applied for a licence on land he had previously forfeited a new application number would be allocated and the file would have a new selection file number Some files in this series have been removed. This is shown by the insertion of a card with the number of the file, the name of the person and the notation that the file was with correspondence with that correspondence number being given. Purchases of land under this Section were recorded in VPRS 13106/P1 Registers of Purchases, Section 31 Land Act 1869. Details of the payment of rents for lessees under this section may be found in the district Registers of Lessees, Section 31 Land Act 1869 a few of which are in custody. The registration of leases may be found in VPRS 11871 Register of Leases Granted Under Land Acts 1869, 1878, 1880.