VPRS 13951 Rent Roll, Estates, Section 49 Closer Settlement Act 1904

Part III Land Act 1898 was the first substantial legislation for Closer Settlement allowing the Board of Land and Works to purchase land which then could be divided and leased, by conditional purchase lease for farm allotments or as allotments in urban areas (which became the Workmen's Homes scheme).The Closer Settlement Act 1904 brought together all legislation relating to Closer Settlement including the Land Act 1898 and amendments made in the consolidated Land Act of 1901 with new provisions. All activities to do with Closer Settlement were placed under the control of the Land Purchase and Management Board (VA 2266).Farm allotments, workmen's homes and an agricultural labourer's lease were to be conditional purchase leases with no person being able to hold more than one. A lengthy list of conditions set out in Section 49 of the Act were part of the lease for farm allotments. These included compulsory residence requirements, compulsory fencing requirements, the destruction of vermin and noxious weeds, the making of substantial improvements to a specified value (subject to inspection and certification by the Board) and the condition of not alienating the land in the first six years of the lease.Instalments of the purchase price were to be paid half-yearly with fines for late payments, the first instalment accompanying the application. Interest was to be paid on the purchase price with payments in 63 equal instalments or otherwise as negotiated with the Board. After twelve years, if all conditions had been met and the full purchase price paid, application could be made for a Crown grant.Details given in the rent rolls, with one volume allocated to one estate or a small number of estates, are the name of the 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 any transfers of leases to other holders and the subsequent payments made by those persons, any cancellation or revocation or instances of abandonment of the land by the occupier. The file number is also given. Further research is required to determine whether these volumes were those completed at the Department of Crown Lands and Survey in Melbourne or at the office of a local Land District. It may be that these volumes were used to record payments during the period of the permit to occupy, with a change to the Lease Ledger (see VPRS 13980)once conditional purchase leases had been obtained.Applications for leases were recorded in the register of applications (see VPRS 13950) with the allocation of an application number which became the file number. Files may be able to be found mainly in VPRS 5714 Closer [and Soldier] Settlement Files with a denominator of 49.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.VPRS 13951 / P2 was previously registered as Unit 3 of VPRS 10241 / P Estates Ledgers.