VPRS 1320 List of Lands Available for Selection and Register of Applications for Land Selected, Hamilton, Section 12 Land Act 1862.

Part II of the Land Act 1862 allowed for the Sale of Lands by Selection. More than 10 million acres of land was reserved for proclamation as agricultural areas for residence and cultivation and not less than four million acres was to be available for selection within three months of the passing of the Act. Land was to be surveyed into lots of at least 40 acres and not more than 640 acres with each lot to be divided into two subdivisions. Selectors could purchase both subdivisions at the price of one pound per acre, or could purchase one subdivision and lease the other one. Persons holding occupation licenses under terms of the notices of 1861 had a pre-emptive right to select the land which they were occupying with the consent of the Board of Land and Works.Leases were to be for eight years at a rent of 2/6 per acre or part of an acre with the lessee having a pre-emptive right of purchase. Selectors could not be infants or married women (unless they had obtained a judicial separation) and had to be resident in Victoria. No-one could select more than 640 acres in a year. Unselected land or land where leases were forfeited were to be sold at public auction. Conditions of the selection were that selectors would, within a year of the selection, cultivate one tenth of the land, or erect a habitable dwelling upon it or fence the land.Applications were to be made in the form set down in the Schedules to the Act in person at a land office and be accompanied by the purchase price of the whole lot or the purchase price for half and one years rent in advance for the other half. Applications were to be entered into a register, which was to be open to public inspection, by the land officer . The priority of the order of applications was to be determined by lot. Any refusal of an application was to be notified within thirty days in the Government Gazette with the reasons for refusal or disallowance being given.This series, probably originating from a land office in the Hamilton district, has two functions. It documents the land available for selection by proclaimed agricultural area and parish. It also is a register of applications made to select land. Researchers should also see VPRS 1284/P List of Lands Proclaimed for Selection, Hamilton District, Section 12 Land Act 1862.This series contains a detailed listing of the land available for selection in the proclaimed agricultural areas (e.g Ennish Stawell, Kilgould) which were part of the office's responsibility. The agricultural area and parish are named with a listing of the sections and allotments available in order. Beside each is given the area for the A and the B sub-divisions for each section and allotment.Details of lessees were entered into a Register of Lessees (see VPRS 1315/P). This recorded the date of the lease or its reference number, the county and parish, the extent of the land being the allotment and section and area and for each year, the number of the report (regarding observance of the conditions of the lease) and the amount of rent to be paid in half-yearly instalments. A remarks column contains notations regarding the subsequent purchase of the land, the transfer to another lessee or to a section of the Land Act 1869 or any cancellation or revocation of the lease. These notations are often accompanied by a correspondence number or a reference to an entry in the Government Gazette.