VPRS 13923 Register of Applications, Geelong, Section 49 Land Act 1869 (Geelong District Survey Office)

Section 49 of the Land Act 1869 allowed the granting of a license for the occupation of auriferous (gold-bearing) land for a period of one year at a time. The amount of land was to be no more than 20 acres with an individual being permitted to hold one licence only. The fees were to be set by regulation.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). The application would be registered in an Applications Register and allocated a number in order of receipt. Applications submitted under Section 49 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. Commissions and 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.This series consists of the Register of Applications maintained at the Geelong District Office prior to the administrative reorganisation of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538), the establishment of the Occupation Branch and the recordkeeping systems then instituted.Details given in the register are the date of receipt of the application and the number, the name of the applicant, the parish in which the land was situated as well as the area applied for and surveyed and the section and allotment, the date of hearing by the Local Lands Board and its recommendation, the decision of the Board of Land and Works regarding the application, the date of issue of the license, the file action reference (usually to Melbourne) and the number of the Plan and the date when charted.VPRS 13923 / P1 was previously registered as Unit 16 of VPRS 450 / P.