VPRS 15985 Register of Applications, Horsham, Mallee Lands (Horsham District Land Office)

Mallee lands were classified as those in the Mallee region of Victoria and those on the Mallee Border in the Land Districts of Horsham, Kerang and St Arnaud. This series consists of Registers of Applications for a lease of or a licence to occupy Mallee lands in the Horsham Land District. They relate to applications for Mallee Allotments under Section 15 of the Mallee Pastoral leases Act 1883 and Section 157 of the Land Act 1890, and applications for agricultural allotments of Mallee Lands under Section 3 of the The Mallee Act 1889 (Sections 7 and 19 Mallee Lands Act 1896 and Sections 217 and 218 of the Land Act 1901. The last unit in the series registers applications under Section 147 Land Act 1898 (Section 309 Land Act 1901) for land in the Little Desert region. Details in these registers were sent to the Mallee Division of the Occupation Branch of VA 538 Department of Crown Lands and Survey for registration in other registers there (see VPRS 14405 and VPRS 14367).Details given are the allocated file number, the name and location of the applicant, the location of the land (often given as county rather than parish) and its area and the decision of a Local Lands Board. The remarks column was used for notations relating to the receipt and sending of correspondence and the management of the file.Sections 15 to 17 of the Mallee Pastoral Leases Act 1883 (Section 157 Land Act 1890) set out the terms and conditions for these leases. Mallee allotments were to be for not more than twenty years, with half a year's rent being payable in advance. At the end of the lease, the land and all improvements were to revert to the Crown. Existing occupiers of the land were entitled to the lease of one Mallee allotment if they applied within one month. Otherwise, the land was to become part of that generally available. By the 1890 Land Act, the area of all allotments held by one person was not to exceed 20,000 acres.Section 3 of The Mallee Act 1889 permitted lessees of Mallee allotments to select an area of up to 320 acres out of that allotment as an agricultural allotment. The conditions were to be the same as those pertaining to agricultural allotments in the Land Act 1884. Section 19 of the Mallee Lands Act 1896 continued this provision with the maximum amount of land able to be licensed or leased as an agricultural allotment being 640 acres. The same privilege of selection of an agricultural allotment from Mallee lands was extended to non-Mallee allotment lessees in Section 7 of this same Act, with lessees able to select outside their leased areas. Sections 217 and 218 of the Land Act 1901 continued these rights of selection of agricultural allotments with the amount of land being determined by its classification.Section 147 Land Act 1898 (Section 309 Land Act 1901) provided for the leasing for no more than five years of 100 acre allotments of the Little Desert. Only one allotment at a time could be held and a peppercorn was to be the rental.The units in VPRS 14409 / P1 were previously registered as follows:Units 1 and 2 were previously registered as Units 1 and 2 of VPRS 457 / P Applications Registers, Section 3 Land Act 1889Unit 3 was previously registered as Unit 93 of VPRS 446 / P Applications Registers, Land Act 1884Unit 4 was previously registered as Unit 4 of VPRS 454 / P Applications Registers, Land Acts 1869 - 1878Unit 5 was previously registered as Unit 124 of VPRS 458 / P Applications Registers, Land Act Unknown