VPRS 13106 Register of Purchases under Section 31 Land Act 1869

The Land Act 1860, the Land Act 1862, the Amending Land Act 1865 and the Land Act 1869 all provided for the purchase of land by the lessee or licensee giving those persons a pre-emptive right to do so if certain conditions had been fulfilled.In 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 particularly from mining interests. License fees already paid were to be credited against the purchase price. The licensee also had the option of taking a lease on the land and paying the purchase price in ten equal instalments.This series contains details of purchases under this Section. Details given are the number of the lot, the location given as county and parish, the section and allotment and its area, the price per acre, the date of purchase and the total amount paid, the purchasers name and address and any remarks. Additional financial details are the amounts previously paid as license fees, amounts paid for survey and the amount required to complete the purchase as well as the date of last payment and the date of selection. A Reference column gives the file number relating to this transaction. This file might be able to be found in VPRS 627 Land Selection Files, Land Act 1869, Section 31. Between 1878 and 1881 the place where final payment was made is also given with other details being added from 1881.VPRS 13106/P1 units 1 and 2 were previously registered as VPRS 1287/P units 3 and 6 respectively. The records were reserialised in 2002.