VPRS 16306 Parish and Township Original Plans (1837-1942) and Record Plans (by 1869-2001)

The plans in this series were produced by the agencies responsible for crown land survey in Victoria as the definitive legal documents that document the status of land in Victoria as either Crown Land, reserved for public purposes (e.g. roads or cemeteries), or alienated (that is, sold) by the Crown. These are cadastral plans which show the boundaries of land surveyed and which form the basis of the current land titles system. The plans were held in Melbourne in what was initially known as the Original Plan Room before it re constituted in 1945 as the Central Plan Office and which subsequently merged with the Land Titles Office in the 1990s to become the Land and Survey Information Centre. Plans in this series date from 1837 in what became Victoria when instructions were given for the Port Phillip region to be surveyed according to the English system of dividing land into counties and then parishes. Parishes were to be approximately 25 square miles in area, divided into sections of a square mile, bounded (if possible) by a natural boundary, as near as possible to rectangular in shape, containing a stream and named with an indigenous word. An area was to be reserved within each parish for at least one village or township. The boundaries of townships relate to areas proclaimed as townships under the Lands Act and are not based on, or function as, local government boundaries. There are two types of plans in this series: - original plans, and  - record plans.  Basically put, record plans, also known as compilations, usually show an entire parish or township and the boundaries of all allotments within it along with other information about the plan itself and individual allotments. Record plans were created and subsequently amended from detail recorded in the original plans.  In a small number of instances, original plans which show only a small part of a parish, were designated as record plans. This usually occurred for parishes in remote areas for which very few allotments were surveyed and thus no parish record plans were created. In these cases, the county plan will be the only plan that shows the entire parish.  ORIGINAL PLANS (CREATED BETWEEN 1837-1942) The term ’original plans‘ refers to plans of surveys, usually conducted to record subdivisions of Crown land for the purpose of alienation or reservation. These are essentially certified copies of plans made by the surveyor who conducted the original survey for transmission to Melbourne. These usually document the allotment or allotments that were the subject of the survey. Original plans were placed in this series by the creating agencies: •    in the period prior to the creation of the first record plan for each individual parish or township, or •    until 1942 if the original plan contained detail that resulted in the amendment of a record plan, or  •    in cases the original plan relate to townships or parishes for which hard copy record plans were never created. Each original plan is certified by the surveyor responsible, noting that the survey was done in accordance with regulations and the plan is correct. The District Surveyor and the Surveyor -General also certified each original plan as true and correct by their respective signatures. Some of the earliest original plans in this series were compiled from data collected in Surveyor's Field Books (VPRS 16685, 16686 and 16687) which were lodged with the Department. A significant number of original plans received after the first record plan was created for a parish or township, being of a much smaller size than traditional plans, were placed on plan sheets for the relevant parish/township approximately 1m x 800mm in size. The number of plans placed on these sheets vary.  Original plans ceased to be added to this series during 1942, when the practice of separating these plans from other supplied survey documentation provided to the creating agencies ended. Original plans submitted since then are held with the supplied documentation in what are referred to the survey field note files still held by agency in 2024. RECORD PLANS (CREATED BETWEEN LATE 1860s – 2001) According to the Survey Practice Handbook Victoria, record plans are in essence, compiled plans bringing together the various original plans of survey thus showing all allotments within their respective areas.  The Handbook describes the function of record plans as broadly twofold: i.    to portray freehold land as it was alienated from the Crown by the issue of Crown Grants for allotments;  ii.    to indicate the current status and parcellation of Crown land. Record plans, the first of which date from the late 1860’s/early 1870’s, are today commonly referred to as either ’parish plans’ or ‘township plans‘. Record plans were conceived as a means to preserve the original plans which date back to 1837 but also to enable publication for distribution to local land offices across Victoria for use as working plans and also for sale to any other government or private body or private individual that wished to purchase them. The task of creating the first record plan for all relevant parishes and townships occurred over a period of approximately 60-70 years and so the date for which the first record plan was created and distributed for any particular parish or township varies considerably. A record plan was not created for at least 89 parishes and 4 townships, usually because insufficient survey work had occurred within the parish to justify the creation of a record plan.  Additionally, a ‘record plan’ can consist of a single plan or, especially for built up areas with a significant number of allotments, a number of adjoining plans also referred to as sheets. There are also approximately 40-50 townships for which a separate township plan has not been created but have been incorporated into the record plan for the parish in which it is located, usually in an enlarged form in one of the parish record plan’s margins.  DISTICTION BETWEEN ORIGINAL PLANS AND RECORD PLANS The distinction between original and record plans seems to be reasonably clear, but in instances where records plans were not created for parishes, exceptions exist and a relatively small number of what appear to be original plans were specifically designated by the creating agencies to be record plans or appear to function as de facto record plans without that designation. Unfortunately, there is no reliable method to identify all such items, but many original plans designated as record plans can be identified via explicit references in the register to the plans, VPRS 16719.   CURRENT AND PUT AWAY PLANS The record plans in this series were subject to amendment after creation. The most frequent form of amendment was the addition of: •    allotments as more Crown land was surveyed •    grantee detail as allotments were alienated, and •    reserves, roads and railways as these were established. Detail on record plans was also less frequently changed due to factors including the: •    revocation of areas set aside for townships or Crown reserves •    change of name of the parish/township or other features documented within it  •    re-acquisition of land by the government and subsequent reservation •    re-acquisition of land by the government and subsequent re-subdivision for public auction or re-selection as occurred under closer and soldier settlement schemes, or the •    correction of Crown allotment description or dimensions after issue of a Certificate of Adjustment, or of Crown allotment numbers after issue of a Certificate of Correction. Record plans in this series were referred to by the creating agencies as either ’current‘ or ’put away‘ plans. (Most original plans were also regarded as put away once relevant detail from them was added to the record plan.) A current record plan was regarded as the up-to-date plan. Put away record plans are superseded record plans that contain a stamp or notation directing no further amendments were to be made and which also identified the new current record plan on which further amendments were to be made. Every record plan in VPRS 16306 was also marked with a stamp that reads ‘Original Plan Room’ which automatically distinguishes it from all other versions of these plans that were created and distributed throughout Victoria to function as working plans.  Original plans were not intended to be amended although it seems some were prior to the early 1870s. These were marked as put away after creation of the first record plan for the relevant parish or township or, until 1942, after the relevant record plan was amended. Original plans were generally not marked as current although some original plans were used as de facto record plans were identified as such.   All plans in this series, both original plans and record plans, are today put away plans because the current parish or township record plan containing up to date information is maintained electronically.  CONTENT OF ORIGINAL PLANS  Original plans are certified copies of the allotment(s) that were recorded by the surveyor in his field book who conducted the survey. Included on these plans are the various signatures certifying the plan as correct and details relating to the receipt of the plan by the recording agencies. The earliest original plans (which are in VPRS 16306/P0001) also include information on land usage including such features as soils, vegetation and buildings, the later plans generally only provide information on land status (issuing of a Crown grant or public reserve etc.) The separation of the survey and land management functions with the establishment of the Occupation Branch in 1874 seems to correlate with fewer details recorded on them thereafter. CONTENT OF RECORD PLANS Record plans in this series contain general information about the plan itself, the parish or township documented on it and individual allotments within the parish or township. Most of the plans in this series utilise imperial measurements, however, a total of 409 parishes and 3 township record plans were also created using metric measurements.  General information contained about the record plan itself or parish/township documented includes:  •    name of the parish and the county in which it is located, or the name of the township and the parish/county in which it is located •    record plan number •    details of the map scale •    a variety of dates (usually month and year) that can include dates of the plan’s, creation, examination and amendment •    numbers which identify the original plans from which the record plan was originally compiled or amended •    boundaries of the parish or township and of townships within the parish •    names of adjoining parishes •    boundaries of allotments within the parish or township •    numbers which denote the sections into which the township or parish were divided, and •    physical features both natural (e.g rivers, lakes, etc) and man-made (e.g government roads, railway lines). CONTENT OF IMPERIAL MEASURE RECORD PLANS RELATING TO ALLOTMENTS Imperial measure record plans typically include the following details within the boundaries of each allotment: •    the allotment number •    bearings of allotment boundaries in degrees and minutes and length of allotment boundaries in links  •    area of the Crown grant / allotment in acres, roods and perches  •    name of the Crown grantee and date of the grant. Names and dates were systematically included for allotments alienated from 1863 but earlier dates can be found only on some allotments. •    details of the reservation of an allotment for public use and date of the relevant Government Gazette notice •    name of the pastoral run for allotments obtained by grantees under a pre-emptive right •    file number pertaining to either the land selection or reservation •    O.P [Original Plan] or C.P [Certified Plan] survey field note number, and •    Certificate of Adjustment and Certificate of Correction numbers, if issued. CONTENT OF METRIC RECORD PLANS AND SCHEDULES RELATING TO ALLTOMENTS The format and content of the metric record plans varies from the imperial measure record plans. Allotment details were not recorded on the metric record plans itself but were included on a separate document called a schedule which is also stored with each metric record plan in this series.  A schedule to a metric record plan listed the following information about allotments in section and allotment order; •    name of Crown grantee •    area (in hectares or square metres) •    date of grant •    file number, and •    plan number. This detail was recorded in two columns. The first noted the survey field note number; this is either an annual single number until 1942, or subsequently a number with the prefix O.P [Original Plan] or C.P [Certified Plan]. The second is a plan number from within VPRS 16306, usually an original plan,  or original plan sheet number. Allotment boundary bearing and length details are not recorded on metric record plans or in the schedules. CROWN GRANTEES IDENTIFIED ON RECORD PLANS The individual identified on any allotment on a record plan is the Crown Grantee, that is the person to whom ownership of the allotment first passed from the Crown. This is usually either a land selector who met all the obligations of a lease or license under a land selection act, an individual who purchased the allotment at a Crown land auction, or a squatter who obtained part of a former pastoral run via a pre-emptive right. This detail only changes on the relatively rare occasions when the allotment passes back to Crown and alienated again as occurred, for example, under the Closer Settlement or Soldier Settlement schemes. Names and dates of grant were only systematically included on record plans for every allotment alienated from 1863. As only the Crown Grantee is recorded, with the exception noted, successive versions of record plans cannot be used to track changes of ownership of the allotment after the Crown grant. Names of selectors who previously held an allotment but did not receive the Crown Grant were never recorded on the record plans in this series. MICROFICHE COPIES Multiple microfiche sets of plans from this series were created by the Central Microfilm Bureau after its establishment in the 1970s. Duplicate copies of these sets were distributed throughout the creating agency and district land offices. A set containing what appears to be the ‘put away’ portion of this series (that is, VPRS 16306/C1) was thought to have been held in PROV Reading Rooms but these were subsequently determined to be manuscript plans. MANUSCRIPT (RECORD) PLANS What was thought to be an unmarked version of many but not every, record plan, known as the ’manuscript’, was put away, presumably for safe keeping, also providing evidence of its content before any amendments were made. Manuscript plans were not stored with the original plans and record plans in this series and were maintained in a separate sequence of plan presses held in 2024 by Land Use Victoria (refer to VPRS 8286 and 8288). Some evidence exists to suggest that manuscript plans were amended in line with amendments made to the relevant record plans, but this is still to be confirmed. A very small number of manuscript plans were used to replace badly damaged record plans that needed to be replaced, but these are regarded as the relevant replacement record plan. For the most part, manuscript plans have the same number of the record plan of which it was the original but also includes a distinctive ‘Manuscript’ stamp that identifies it as such. (Some manuscript plans were allocated their own unique number and it also appears a number were retrospectively added to the register probably during the 1970s or 1980s.) Microfiche sets of manuscript record plans have previously been registered as VPRS 8287 and 8289 and were placed in PROV reading rooms for reference purposes, but these have since been removed.  WORKING PLANS OR OCCUPATION BANCH (OB) PLANS In 1874 the Occupation Branch was established for the day-to-day management of land usage including the issuing of leases and licences and thereafter maintained multiple sets of working plans in the branch head office in Melbourne and in regional offices around the colony/state as working plans. These were copies of record plans from this series. Such Working Plans were annotated with details relating to their day to day management of each allotment and, for plans in regional offices, were allocated new plan numbers unique to each office. As merely working tools, it is understood that the superseded plans were thrown out, mislaid or damaged beyond recognition. A digitised set of the working plans used in offices across the State was created in 2001 and is available to researchers in VPRS 16171 Regional Land Office Parish and Township Plans Digitised Reference Set. This digitised set are the only working plans held in the PROV collection. The contents of VPRS 16171 are not limited to just copies of record plans from this series (i.e VPRS 16306). In a number of instances, especially in the instances for those parishes or townships for which hard copy record plans were never created, a variety of different plans were used for the purpose. PROV does not hold the hard copy version of the plans digitised in VPRS 16171. LASSI ONLINE DIGITAL SYSTEM In 2001 Land Victoria closed this hard copy series, when it was superseded by the digital online system LASSI. Land Victoria digitally captured all the Crown information and the map line work from the Record Plans. In LASSI the textual information on Crown grants etc. is transposed onto a new digital map base. CHANGE IN PROV SERIES TITLE When originally transferred to PROV, this series was titled Record Plans (Put Away and Current). This title was changed during 2025 following further research into this series.