VPRS 14441 Estate Book, Closer Settlement

The closer settlement provisions of Part III of the 1898 Land Act allowed the Board of Land and Works to allocate existing Crown lands for settlement or to purchase lands from private individuals for the purposes of settlement. These provisions continued in the Closer Settlement Act 1904 and subsequent acts and were reinforced and reiterated in the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Acts from 1917 (see Section 23). The Acts specified the conditions under which the Closer Settlement Board (previously known as the Lands Purchase and Management Board) might select land and pay for it as well as the conditions required for evaluating the suitability of the land for that purpose.This series provides a summary of estates purchased by the Closer Settlement Board and the summary details of the use made of the land purchased. On the sheet for each estate is given the estate name, the details of total area and cost, the name of the vendor and the date of purchase. The next section gives the details of the subdivision of the estate giving firstly the main purpose (such as agricultural allotments or workmen's homes) with the number of each allotment, the area, the selling value and any remarks. Full details are then given of allotments for sale under conditional purchase leases with such details as the lot, the allotment and section, the parish, the price per acre and the capital value. Similar details are given for reserves for public purposes, allotments withheld from application and for allotments leased for grazing.