VPRS 13482 Register of Applications, Ararat, Other Sections Land Acts 1884, 1890, 1891, 1898 and 1901 (Occupation Branch)

VPRS 13482 Register of Applications, Ararat, Miscellaneous Sections Land Acts 1884, 1890, 1891, 1898 and 1901 (Occupation Branch) was created by the 'Ararat District Office' at the Occupation Branch of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538). It is duplicated by Register of Applications, Ararat, Miscellaneous Sections Land Acts 1884, 1890, 1891, 1898 and 1901 (District Survey Office) (VPRS 13483) which is the register created by the District Survey Office in Ararat.VPRS 13482 / P1 was previously registered as units 244 and 45 of VPRS 458 / P Application Registers, Land Act Unknown.Sections of an Act that were less common were often recorded in the one register. This was the case with a number of sections of the Land Act 1884. These sections remained in consolidations of the Land Act (1890 and 1901), but with a change in number of section. Other lesser sections were added and also entered in the same register from subsequent acts such as the Land Act 1891, Land Act 1898 and the Wattles Act 1890.Section 67 of the Land Act 1884 allowed for the annual licensing of no more than 1000 acres for grazing on auriferous lands. This was allowed to continue for five years and with the right to mine the land remaining. Under Section 91 of the Land Act 1898, (later Section 105 Land Act 1901) this term was extended to 21 years and the right to fence the land extended to licensees with the land able to be treated as rateable property.The Land Act 1890 Amendment of 1891, in Section 22 (Section 106 of the Land Act 1901), provided for worked out auriferous lands to be proclaimed and licensed for occupation. No individual could occupy more than five acres for a period not exceeding seven years. Rent was to be no less than one shilling per acre and theSection 93 and Section 91 of the Land Act 1884 (Section 99 Land Act 1890 and Section 145 Land Act 1901) provided for the licensing or leasing of Crown lands for a multitude of purposes such as rural businesses, the removal of raw materials and other purposes none of which were to be agricultural or grazing. Licenses were renewable annually at a fee to be set. Leases under the 1884 Act for these purposes were to be of no more than three acres at an annual rental of five pounds.Section 119 Land Act 1884 provided for the issuing of grazing licenses for Crown lands not otherwise held. This provision continued as Section 123 Land Act 1890 and Section 187 Land Act 1901.Section 147 of the Land Act 1901 allowed the licensing of bee-keeping establishments of not more than one acre for one year on any Crown land including that held under an agricultural license or lease or a grazing lease.The Wattles Act was passed to encourage the commercial exploitation of certain acacia species. Under Section 10, Wattles Act 1890 a lessee under section 32 of the Land Act 1884 could cancel that lease and obtain a lease for the cultivation of wattle trees.When an application to select Crown land was received by the Department it would be registered in a register of applications. The contents of registers of applications were arranged alphabetically and application numbers were allocated consecutively in blocks for each letter of the alphabet.In an attempt to try and rationalise the way the Department managed Crown land, the Occupation Branch was established in 1874 under the influence of H Byron Moore, Assistant Surveyor General. The Occupation Branch was to deal with all matters relating to the occupation of Crown land.The State was divided into fifteen Land Districts, these being Ararat, Ballarat, Beechworth, Benalla, Castlemaine and Dunolly, Echuca, Geelong Warrnambool and Camperdown, Hamilton, Horsham, Melbourne, Sale and Bairnsdale, Sandhurst (Bendigo), Seymour and St Arnaud. Each District was represented at the Occupation Branch in Melbourne by a 'District Land Office'.Each District Land Office consisted of a double table or desk at which both a clerk and draughtsman sat. Everything in the way of files, maps and plans were at convenient reach. The same officers dealt with the sale of Crown land from its 'inception to its disposition'. The District Offices' staff consisted essentially of a clerical officer and a draughtsman who dealt solely with that Land District. It was their business to know the District and to deal with all land business related to it. By 1877 each District Land Office, consisted of a District Officer, a rental clerk, a draughtsman and several general clerks.After the establishment of the Occupation Branch in 1874 and the division of the State into Land Districts, applications were registered by District. Each 'District Land Office' created and maintained their own series of registers of applications. Any new applications received by the Department after 1874 were registered in separate District registers with applications numbers that were allocated from the number one onwards. The same application number could be allocated for selections in different Districts. For example the application number 1021/32 could exist in both the Ballarat and Bendigo Land Districts. It is the District name plus the accompanying file number that is the unique identifier.Applicants completed an application form at District Survey Offices. Most Land Districts had a District Survey Office. The District Surveyor would enter the applicants' details in a register of applications kept at the District Survey Office. The register of applications allocated a number to each applicant. The application number was written on the application to select and subsequently became their land selection file number if their application was approved.The District Surveyor would enter into the register of applications the application number, the date the application was received, the applicants' name, occupation and parish, the allotment number and size (acres, roods and perches) applied for. The application was then forwarded to the appropriate District Land Office at the Occupation Branch in Melbourne. It was then entered in a duplicate register of applications there against the same application number. The District Surveyor also forwarded a tracing of the allotment applied for.The position of the allotment applied for was immediately charted on a working plan in pencil. The tracing was then sent to the Department of Mines and Water Supply (VA 2720) for a report on any mining objections. If there were no mining objections the application would be heard before a Local Land Board. Local Land Boards were made up of representatives from the local community and the Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538). The Boards would hear from all applicants for an allotment and would decide who was to be granted the licence or lease. The schedule documenting the decisions of the Local Land Board was forwarded to the appropriate District Land Office at the Occupation Branch and the decision was entered into the register of applications.The Board of Land and Works (VA 744), the statutory authority for the management of Crown land would give final approval for land selection, acting on the recommendation of the Local Land Board. The decision of the Board of Land and Works (VA 744) was then recorded in the register of applications. The registers also record the date of the licence or lease issue and any subsequent action in relation to that file. The selectors granted each allotment would then be recorded on the working plan by the District Land Office draughtsman at the Occupation Branch. The tracing of the allotment was then sent to the Crown Land Bailiff responsible for that Land District.Registers of applications control selection and occupation files. If an application to select Crown land was successful, the application number would become the file number. For example if an application to select under section 42 of the Land Act 1884 was registered as application number 324 then the selection or occupation file number would be 324/42.The application number remained the selection file number for a particular piece of land if all terms and conditions were met and the selection resulted in a Crown Grant. However, often the original selector did not end up owning the land. Many selectors forfeited or abandoned their licence or lease. If this were the case then the land was re-opened up for selection. Any new applicants were registered in a register of applications under a new application number. The original applicants file would be attached to the new selectors file. The new file number was annotated in the register against the original selectors' entry.Even if the same selector applied for a licence on land he had previously forfeited a new application number would be allocated and the file would have a new selection file number.

VPRS 13482《阿拉拉特地区1884、1890、1891、1898及1901年土地法案杂项条款申请登记册（职业管理分支）》由王室土地与勘查署（Department of Crown Lands and Survey，VA 538）下设的职业管理科阿拉拉特地区办事处编制。该登记册的副本为VPRS 13483《阿拉拉特地区1884、1890、1891、1898及1901年土地法案杂项条款申请登记册（地区勘查办事处）》，由阿拉拉特地区勘查办事处编制。VPRS 13482/P1此前曾以VPRS 458/P《申请登记册》（未标注具体土地法）的244号和45号案卷进行归档。

法案中较为冷门的条款通常会被归集至同一本登记册中，1884年《土地法》的多项条款便是如此。这些条款在后续修订合并的1890年及1901年《土地法》中依然保留，但条款编号发生了变更。后续出台的1891年《土地法》、1898年《土地法》及1890年《金合欢法案》新增的其他冷门条款也被纳入了本登记册。

1884年《土地法》第67条规定，可对含金土地上不超过1000英亩的放牧区域发放年度许可，该许可有效期为5年，且许可持有人可保留土地的采矿权。1898年《土地法》第91条（后调整为1901年《土地法》第105条）将该许可的有效期延长至21年，并将土地围栏修建权授予许可持有人，同时允许该土地被列为应征税财产。

1891年修订的1890年《土地法》第22条（对应1901年《土地法》第106条）规定，可对已开采完毕的含金土地进行公告并发放占用许可。单个申请人占用的土地面积不得超过5英亩，有效期不超过7年，租金不得低于每英亩1先令，且1884年《土地法》第93条与第91条（对应1890年《土地法》第99条、1901年《土地法》第145条）规定，可出于多种用途对王室土地发放许可或进行租赁，包括乡村经营、原材料外运及其他非农业、非放牧类用途。该许可可按设定费用按年续期。根据1884年法案，用于上述用途的租赁土地面积不得超过3英亩，年租金为5英镑。

1884年《土地法》第119条规定，可对未作其他处置的王室土地发放放牧许可。该条款在1890年《土地法》中调整为第123条，在1901年《土地法》中调整为第187条。

1901年《土地法》第147条规定，可在任何王室土地上（包括持有农业许可、租赁土地或放牧租赁土地的区域）设立不超过1英亩的养蜂场，许可有效期为1年。

《金合欢法案》的出台旨在推动特定金合欢物种的商业化开发。根据1890年《金合欢法案》第10条，持有1884年《土地法》第32条项下租赁权的承租人可终止原有租赁，并获取用于金合欢种植的新租赁权。

当王室土地认购申请提交至该署后，会被录入申请登记册。申请登记册的内容按字母顺序排列，申请编号按字母表顺序分段连续分配。

为优化王室土地管理流程，在测量总监助理H·拜伦·摩尔（H Byron Moore）的推动下，该署于1874年设立了职业管理科，专门处理与王室土地占用相关的所有事务。该州被划分为15个土地辖区，分别为阿拉拉特、巴拉腊特、比奇沃思、贝纳拉、卡斯尔梅恩与达诺拉尔、伊丘卡、吉隆-瓦南布尔与坎珀当、哈密尔顿、霍舍姆、墨尔本、塞尔与贝恩斯代尔、桑德赫斯特（本迪戈）、西摩及圣阿尔诺。每个辖区均在墨尔本的职业管理科设有“地区土地办事处”作为代表。

每个地区土地办事处配备一张双人工作台，办事员与绘图员可同时办公，各类档案、地图与图纸均放置在随手可取的位置。同一批工作人员负责王室土地从受理到处置的全流程业务。地区办事处的核心人员为办事员与绘图员，他们仅负责对应辖区的土地事务，需熟悉辖区情况并处理所有相关土地业务。至1877年，每个地区土地办事处已配备地区官员、租金办事员、绘图员及若干普通办事员。

1874年职业管理科设立且全州完成土地辖区划分后，申请按辖区进行登记。每个地区土地办事处均创建并维护各自的申请登记册序列。1874年后该署收到的所有新申请均录入单独的辖区登记册，申请编号从1开始连续分配。不同辖区可使用相同的申请编号，例如巴拉腊特与本迪戈土地辖区均可存在申请编号1021/32。因此，辖区名称与配套案卷编号的组合才是唯一标识符。

申请人需在地区勘查办事处填写申请表格。多数土地辖区均设有地区勘查办事处，地区测量员会将申请人的详细信息录入办事处留存的申请登记册，并为每位申请人分配申请编号。申请编号会标注在认购申请文件上，若申请获批，该编号将成为该土地认购的案卷编号。

地区测量员需在申请登记册中录入申请编号、申请接收日期、申请人姓名、职业与教区、申请分配地块的编号及面积（英亩、平方杆与平方竿）。随后，申请文件会被转送至墨尔本职业管理科对应的地区土地办事处，并以相同的申请编号录入当地的申请登记副本。同时，地区测量员还需转交申请地块的勘绘图。

申请地块的位置会立即以铅笔标注在工作规划图上。随后，勘绘图会被送至矿业与供水署（Department of Mines and Water Supply，VA 2720），以获取是否存在采矿异议的报告。若无采矿异议，申请将提交至地方土地委员会进行听证。地方土地委员会由当地社区代表与王室土地与勘查署（VA 538）的代表组成，负责听取所有地块申请人的陈述，并裁定许可或租赁的授予对象。记录地方土地委员会决议的清单会被转送至墨尔本职业管理科对应的地区土地办事处，并将决议录入申请登记册。

负责王室土地管理的法定机构——土地与工程委员会（Board of Land and Works，VA 744）会根据地方土地委员会的建议，对土地认购申请作出最终批准。该委员会的决议会被录入申请登记册，登记册同时记录许可或租赁的签发日期，以及该案卷后续的所有相关操作。获得地块认购权的申请人信息会由职业管理科地区土地办事处的绘图员标注在工作规划图上。地块勘绘图随后会被送至负责对应辖区的王室土地执行官。

申请登记册管控着认购与占用案卷。若王室土地认购申请获批，申请编号将成为案卷编号。例如，若根据1884年《土地法》第42条提出的认购申请被登记为申请编号324，则该认购或占用案卷的编号为324/42。

若申请人满足所有条款和条件且最终获得王室土地授予书，则申请编号将始终作为该特定地块的认购案卷编号。但通常情况下，最初的申请人最终无法获得土地所有权，许多申请人会因违约或放弃许可/租赁而丧失资格。在此情形下，该地块会重新开放认购。新申请人需以新的申请编号录入申请登记册，原申请人的案卷会附在新申请人的案卷中，同时登记册中会在原申请人的条目旁标注新的案卷编号。

即便同一申请人再次申请其此前丧失资格的地块的许可，仍需分配新的申请编号，案卷也将使用新的认购案卷编号。