VPRS 624 Application Files, Section 42 Amending Land Act 1865

This series contains files relating to the occupation of land under Section 42 Amending Land Act 1865 which have not become part of files for Section 31 Land Act 1869 which allowed the immediate purchase or leasing with subsequent purchase of the land occupied. Files in this series are, in general, those for applications which were refused or not been recommended, applications which were recommended but not proceeded with or where conditions for occupation were not met or cases where the license to occupy was cancelled or revoked or the land was sold.Files typically have, contained within a standard cover sheet, the formal application which gives the name, occupation and address of the applicant, the location of the land applied for and a full description, a report from the contract surveyor and the District Surveyor's Report and a surveyor's plan of the land being applied for. Where multiple licenses were applied for at the same time for adjacent lots, the applications are contained in the same file. Some files may also contain the actual license granted or correspondence relating to the application or to subsequent matters such as those to do with the payment of rent.The cover of the file has the date of the application and the date it was received and the summary details of the application (applicant's name, the area of land and the parish) as well as the recommendation signified by a notation and/or an official Board of Land and Works stamp. Files for refused applications, making it apparent that applications were referred to the Mines Department for comment, have a written objection signed by the Secretary of Mines with a subsequent notation of the refusal of the application by the Board of Land and Works. Successful applications may also have notations regarding correspondence, the approval of the Governor-in-Council (for examples of these see Unit 1 VPRS 863 Orders-In-Council re Issue and Cancellation of Licences under Land Acts 1865 and 1869), the issuing of the license, the annotation of plans and notes about a previous applicant for the lot. Some files have a note at the top of the sheet the District Survey Office at which the original application was made.The series title has been changed to more accurately reflect the content of this series. VPRS 624 was previously entitled Land Selection Files, Land Act 1865, Section 42. The previous index to these files in VPRS 130 Index to Land Selection Files, Land Act 1865, Section 42 and Land Act 1869, Section 31 has been superseded by the new listing prepared in November 2005 when re-processing for the purposes of conservation and easier researcher access was carried out.Section 42 of the Amending Land Act 1865 was designed to allow the use of lands on or adjacent to the goldfields to the advantage of the general population without interfering with the operations of miners. Occupation, at a modest rental, was to be temporary and for the purposes of residence and cultivation. Each licence was to cover a maximum of twenty acres for no more than one year although persons could apply for multiple licences. Rental, to be paid to Receivers of Revenue or Paymasters, was fixed at the rate of two pounds ten shillings per annum for less than 10 acres and at four pounds per annum for an area of between 10 and 20 acres. License holders were required to make identifiable improvements - to enclose their allotments and cultivate a prescribed proportion of the area to demonstrate their bona fides.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 District Land Office (see VRG 27). Some 36 land offices were established throughout the Colony to deal with applications received under this Act. The application would be registered in an Applications Register and allocated a number in order of receipt. Those applications for All Districts received at Melbourne were then indexed by name of applicant and the allocated number. The application was then investigated and reported upon by a local commission.The functions of this Commission were to investigate and report upon every application, to protect the public and local interests and promote the advantageous occupation of land. Commissions 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 Council 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 Commissions or enquiries were made in district centres and other principal centres of population on and in the vicinity of the goldfields. The decision with respect to the application arrived at by the Commission was then entered in the Applications Register. For District Registers, it became the practice to register and arrange applications with them directly relating to specific sittings of the Commission at a specific place on a specific date.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, the payment of rents and, in the remarks column, the subsequent history of that holding of land and of the licence to occupy it.The application number remained the file number for a particular piece of land if all terms and conditions were met. However, often the original licensee did not end up retaining the land. Licensees forfeited or abandoned or transferred their licence. If this were the case, then the land was re-opened for licensing. 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 licensees file. The new file number was annotated in the register against the original licensees' entry.Even if the same licensee applied for a licence on land he had previously forfeited, a new application number would be allocated and the file would have a new license file number.