VPRS 15573 Register of Purchases of Land for Soldier Settlement

This series records land being purchased from private individuals for use as soldier settlement allotments under the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Act 1917. Land was acquired under the provisions in the Closer Settlement Act. Section 19 of the 1915 Act allowed the Closer Settlement Board (VA 2266) to acquire land by agreement or compulsory acquisition and this was often done in the form of estates. Section 20 allowed the acquisition of a specific block of land where a resident had entered into a provisional agreement with the owner. The Board could ratify this agreement and then use it for the purposes of closer (and soldier) settlement.Details given in this series are the numbers and date, the area offered and its location, whether part of an estate or coming under Section 20, the name of the vendor and any agent, the name of the municipality, the price being asked for the land and details of valuations made of the land by the municipality, the Board's valuers and independent valuers and the price recommended by the Board. Finally, the decision whether to recommend or decline the purchase is given.Descriptions of properties and the evaluations made by Inspectors of Land Settlement may be seen in VPRS 14433 Inspector's Report Books, Acquisition of Land, Closer Settlement Acts and Discharged Soldiers Settlement Acts.