VPRS 13501 Register of Applications, Ballarat, Section 32 Land Act 1884 (Ballarat District Survey Office)

This series was created by the District Survey Office at Ballarat. It is duplicated by Register of Applications, Ballarat, Section 32 Land Act (Occupation Branch) (VPRS 13500) which is the register created by the 'Ballarat District Office' at the Occupation Branch.VPRS 13501 / P1 was previously registered as Unit 43 of VPRS 446 / P Application Registers Land Act 1884.Section 32 of the Land Act 1884 (as confirmed in the consolidated Land Act 1890) allowed for the leasing of Crown land for grazing purposes. Lands thus leased could not be purchased and were to revert to the Crown after the expiration of fourteen years. No person was to hold more than one lease and no one lease was to exceed 1000 acres. Land was to be appraised for the purpose of setting a rental of between twopence and fourpence per acre with the right to levy an additional rental of five pounds per cent per annum based on the capital value of improvements made on the leasehold. Special conditions of occupation were to control vermin and noxious weeds, keep any improvements in repair, fence the land and not cut any timber. The Crown was able to resume the land at any time for certain specific purposes listed in the Act or if the lease conditions were not complied with or at the conclusion of the fourteen years with compensation to be paid to the lessee for any improvements made.An agricultural allotment of not more than 320 acres could be excised from such a leasehold under the same conditions as was set out in Section 42 of the Act. Persons who had selected that amount of land under previous Land Acts were not eligible for this provision. Those who had selected less than the 320 acres could select the amount of land necessary to make it up to 320 acres. A license to occupy would then be issued for land thus selected.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.Separate registers of applications were usually created for each section of the Land Act under which individuals could apply to select land. For example, all applications received under Section 32 of the Land Act 1884 were recorded in the same register. Sections of an Act that were less common, however, were often recorded together in the one register.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 location 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 Lands and Works (VA 744) was then recorded in the register of applications. The registers also record the date of the licence or lease issued 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.

本数据集系列由巴拉瑞特（Ballarat）地区勘测办公室编制，其副本源自《巴拉瑞特土地法第32条（占用分支）申请登记簿》（VPRS 13500），该登记簿由占用分支下的“巴拉瑞特地区办公室”编制。VPRS 13501/P1原登记为《1884年土地法申请登记簿》（VPRS 446/P）第43单元。

1884年《土地法》第32条（经1890年合并版土地法确认）允许将王室领地（Crown land）出租用于放牧。此类租赁的王室领地不得出售，且在14年租期届满后须归还王室。任何人不得持有多于一份租赁合约，且单份租赁领地面积不得超过1000英亩。土地须先经估值，以确定每英亩2便士至4便士的基础租金，同时可按照租赁领地改良工程的资本价值，每年征收相当于其5%的附加租金。租赁使用须遵守特定条款：管控害虫与有害杂草、维护所有改良设施、圈围土地且不得砍伐林木。王室可在任何时候出于法案列明的特定用途、或承租人违反租赁条款时、或14年租期届满时收回土地，且须就租赁领地内的改良工程向承租人支付补偿。

可按照本法案第42条规定的相同条件，从上述租赁领地中分割出面积不超过320英亩的农业用地。此前已依据旧版土地法申领过同等面积土地的申请人，不得享受本条款优惠；此前申领面积不足320英亩的申请人，可申领差额土地以补足至320英亩。针对上述申领的土地，将颁发占用许可证。

当土地管理部门收到王室领地申领申请后，该申请将被录入申请登记簿。申请登记簿内容按字母顺序编排，申请编号按照字母表顺序分批次连续分配。通常会针对土地法中可供个人申领土地的每一条款，单独设立申请登记簿。例如，所有依据1884年《土地法》第32条提交的申请，均录入同一登记簿；但对于使用频率较低的法案条款，相关申请通常会合并录入同一登记簿。

为优化王室土地管理流程，土地管理部门于1874年在助理测量总长H·拜伦·摩尔（H Byron Moore）的推动下设立土地占用科（Occupation Branch），该科负责处理所有与王室领地占用相关的事务。该州划分为15个土地管辖区：阿拉拉特、巴拉瑞特、比奇沃斯、贝纳拉、卡斯尔梅因与杜诺利、伊丘卡、吉隆-沃南布尔与坎珀当、汉密尔顿、霍舍姆、墨尔本、塞尔与贝恩斯代尔、桑德赫斯特（本迪戈）、西摩与圣阿诺德。每个土地管辖区均在墨尔本的土地占用科设有“地区土地办公室”作为驻点代表。

每个地区土地办公室设有双人办公桌，供办事员与绘图员共同办公，各类档案、地图与图纸均放置在随手可取的位置。同一批办事人员负责王室土地从申请受理到最终处置的全流程业务。地区土地办公室的核心编制为一名办事员与一名绘图员，仅负责对应土地管辖区的相关业务，其工作职责包括熟悉本管辖区情况，并处理所有与之相关的土地事务。至1877年，每个地区土地办公室的编制已扩充至包含一名地区主管、一名租金办事员、一名绘图员以及多名普通办事员。

自1874年土地占用科设立并完成全州土地管辖区划分后，申请将按照管辖区进行登记。各地区土地办公室负责创建并维护各自的申请登记簿系列。1874年后土地管理部门收到的所有新申请，均录入各自管辖区的专属登记簿，申请编号从1开始连续分配。不同土地管辖区可使用相同的申请编号，例如申请编号1021/32可同时出现在巴拉瑞特与本迪戈两个土地管辖区的登记簿中。唯有将管辖区名称与配套档案编号相结合，方可构成唯一标识符。

申请人须在地区勘测办公室填写申请表，大多数土地管辖区均设有地区勘测办公室。地区测量员会将申请人的详细信息录入保存在地区勘测办公室的申请登记簿中，并为每位申请人分配一个编号。申请编号会标注在土地申领申请表上，若申请获批，该编号将成为申请人的土地申领档案编号。地区测量员须在申请登记簿中录入以下信息：申请编号、申请受理日期、申请人姓名、职业与教区、申领地块编号及面积（英亩、路得与佩奇）。随后申请表将被转交至墨尔本土地占用科对应的地区土地办公室，该办公室将按照相同的申请编号，将申请信息录入本地的申请副本登记簿。地区测量员还须一并转交申领地块的描图。

申领地块的位置会被立刻用铅笔标注在工作平面图上。该描图将被送交矿产与供水部（VA 2720），以获取是否存在采矿异议的评估报告。若无采矿异议，申请将提交至地方土地委员会进行审议。地方土地委员会由本地社区代表与王室土地与勘测部（VA 538）的代表组成，委员会将听取所有地块申请人的陈述，并裁定哪位申请人可获得占用许可证或租赁合约。记录地方土地委员会决议的议事日程将被转交至墨尔本土地占用科对应的地区土地办公室，并将决议内容录入申请登记簿。

负责王室土地管理的法定机构土地工程委员会（VA 744）将根据地方土地委员会的推荐，对土地申领申请作出最终批复。该委员会的决议将被录入申请登记簿。登记簿还会记录许可证或租赁合约的签发日期，以及该档案后续的所有相关操作。获得地块申领资格的申请人信息，将由墨尔本土地占用科地区土地办公室的绘图员标注在工作平面图上。地块描图将被送交负责对应土地管辖区的王室土地执行官。

申请登记簿用于管理申领与占用档案。若王室领地申领申请获批，申请编号将成为该档案的编号。例如，若依据1884年《土地法》第42条提交的申领申请登记编号为324，则该申领或占用档案的编号为324/42。若申请人遵守所有条款且申领最终获得王室土地授予，则该申请编号将作为对应地块的申领档案编号长期保留。但通常情况下，初始申领人最终未必能获得土地所有权，众多申领人因违约或主动放弃而丧失其许可证或租赁合约。若出现此类情况，该地块将重新开放申领，新申请人的信息将以新的申请编号录入申请登记簿，初始申领人的档案将被附至新申领人的档案中，登记簿中将在初始申领人的登记条目旁标注新的档案编号。即便同一申领人就其此前已丧失的地块再次申请许可证，仍将被分配新的申请编号，该档案也将拥有新的申领档案编号。