VPRS 13373 Register of Applications, Castlemaine, Section 65 Land Acts 1884, 1890 and 1898 and Section 103 Land Act 1901 (Occupation Branch)

This series was created by the 'Castlemaine District Office' at the Occupation Branch of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538). It is duplicated by Register of Applications, Castlemaine, Section 65 Land Acts 1884, 1890 and 1898 and Section 103 Land Act 1901 (Castlemaine District Survey Office) (VPRS 13374) which is the register created by the District Survey Office in Castlemaine.VPRS 13373/P1 was previously registered as Units 257 and 204 of VPRS 458/P Application Registers, Land Act Unknown and Unit 6 of VPRS 142/P Application Registers, Land Act 1890.Sections of an Act that were less common were often recorded together 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 65 of the Land Act 1884 (and Section 103, Land Act 1901) provided for the annual licensing of auriferous (gold-bearing) lands. Areas licensed were to be of no more than 20 acres with only one license being allowed for each individual. There was to be no sale of these lands. This section was amended by Section 90 of the Land Act 1898 providing for the appraisal of these lands. If the value of the land was appraised to be more than the rent already paid on them, the subsequent rental was to be no more than two shillings and sixpence per annum with no annual license fee.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 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 65 of the Land Act 1884 was registered as application number 324 then the selection or occupation file number would be 324/65.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.

本系列档案由土地与测量部（Department of Crown Lands and Survey，VA 538）职业分支的卡斯尔梅恩区办公室编制。
其副本留存于《卡斯尔梅恩申请登记册》，该登记册涵盖1884、1890及1898年《土地法》第65条，以及1901年《土地法》第103条（卡斯尔梅恩区测量办公室，VPRS 13374），后者由卡斯尔梅恩区测量办公室编制。VPRS 13373/P1 此前被登记为VPRS 458/P《申请登记册》（未知土地法）的第257、204单元，以及VPRS 142/P《1890年土地法申请登记册》的第6单元。
法案中较为冷门的条款常被合并登记入同一本登记册，1884年《土地法》的若干条款便是如此。这些条款在1890年及1901年《土地法》的整合版本中得以保留，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《金合欢种植法》（Wattles Act 1890）新增的其他冷门条款也被一并录入该登记册。
1884年《土地法》第65条（及1901年《土地法》第103条）规定对含金（auriferous）土地进行年度许可。获批许可的土地面积不得超过20英亩，且每名申请人仅可获批一份许可。此类土地不得买卖。1898年《土地法》第90条对该条款进行了修订，新增土地估值要求：若土地估值高于已缴租金，则后续年度租金不得超过每年2先令6便士，且无需缴纳年度许可费。
当土地与测量部收到官地（Crown land）的选地申请后，会将其登记入申请登记册。申请登记册的内容按字母顺序排列，且为字母表中的每个字母分配连续的申请编号块。
为理顺官地管理流程，1874年在助理测量总长H·拜伦·摩尔（H Byron Moore）的推动下设立了职业分支，负责处理所有与官地占用相关的事务。该州被划分为15个土地行政区，分别为：阿拉拉特（Ararat）、巴拉腊特（Ballarat）、比奇沃斯（Beechworth）、贝纳拉（Benalla）、卡斯尔梅恩与邓诺利（Castlemaine and Dunolly）、伊丘卡（Echuca）、吉隆、瓦南布尔与坎珀当（Geelong Warrnambool and Camperdown）、汉密尔顿（Hamilton）、霍舍姆（Horsham）、墨尔本（Melbourne）、塞尔与拜恩斯代尔（Sale and Bairnsdale）、桑德赫斯特（本迪戈，Sandhurst (Bendigo)）、西摩（Seymour）和圣阿尔诺（St Arnaud）。每个行政区在墨尔本的职业分支设有“区土地办公室”。
每个区土地办公室设有双人办公桌，书记员与绘图员可同时办公，各类档案、地图与图纸均摆放于随手可取之处。同一批工作人员全权负责官地出售从发起至处置的全流程。区办公室的人员配置最初仅为一名文员与一名绘图员，专门负责对应土地行政区的事务，其职责在于熟悉本区情况并处理所有相关土地业务。至1877年，每个区土地办公室的人员已扩充至区官员、租金书记员、绘图员及若干普通文员。
1874年职业分支设立并完成州土地行政区划分后，申请按行政区进行登记。每个“区土地办公室”自行编制并维护其专属的申请登记册系列。1874年后部门收到的所有新申请，均在单独的行政区登记册中登记，申请编号从1开始依次分配。不同行政区可分配到相同的申请编号，例如，巴拉腊特与本迪戈土地行政区均可存在申请编号1021/32。唯有行政区名称搭配附带的档案编号，方可构成唯一标识符。
申请人需在区测量办公室填写申请表格。大多数土地行政区均设有区测量办公室。区测量员会将申请人的详细信息录入区测量办公室留存的申请登记册，并为每位申请人分配申请编号。该申请编号会标注在选地申请上，若申请获批，该编号将成为其土地选地档案编号。
区测量员需在申请登记册中录入以下信息：申请编号、申请接收日期、申请人姓名、职业与教区、申请的地块编号与面积（英亩、路得与平方竿（acres, roods and perches））。随后申请会被转发至墨尔本职业分支对应的区土地办公室，该办公室会以相同的申请编号将申请信息录入副本登记册。区测量员还需附带申请地块的草图。
申请地块的位置会立即以铅笔绘制在工作规划图上。随后草图会被送至矿产与供水部（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（Local Land Board）审理。地方土地委员会由当地社区代表与土地与测量部的代表组成。委员会会听取所有地块申请人的陈述，并决定将许可或租赁授予何人。记录地方土地委员会决议的清单会被转发至墨尔本职业分支对应的区土地办公室，决议内容将被录入申请登记册。
土地与工程委员会（Board of Land and Works，VA 744）作为官地管理的法定主管机构，会依据地方土地委员会的推荐对土地选地申请给出最终批准。土地与工程委员会的决议随后会被录入申请登记册。登记册还会记录许可或租赁的签发日期，以及该档案后续的所有相关动作。获批对应地块的选地人信息，随后会由墨尔本职业分支区土地办公室的绘图员标注在工作规划图上。申请地块的草图会被送至负责对应土地行政区的官地法警。
申请登记册管控选地与占用档案。若官地选地申请获批，申请编号将成为档案编号。例如，若依据1884年《土地法》第65条提交的选地申请登记编号为324，则该选地或占用档案编号为324/65。若所有条款与条件均得到满足且选地最终获得官地授予书，该申请编号将始终作为特定地块的选地档案编号。然而，许多情况下最初的选地人最终并未拥有该土地。众多选地人丧失或放弃了其许可或租赁。若出现此类情况，该土地将重新开放供选地。新申请人需在申请登记册中以新的申请编号进行登记。原申请人的档案将附至新选地人的档案中，新档案编号会在登记册中原申请人条目旁进行注释。即便同一选地人就此前丧失的土地再次申请许可，也会被分配新的申请编号，档案也将拥有新的选地档案编号。