VPRS 13633 Rent Roll, Alexandra, Agricultural and Grazing Licenses and Leases, Land Acts from 1884 to 1901

All licenses for the occupation of Crown lands and leases of Crown lands required the payment of rent in amounts and at intervals as stated by legislation or regulations made under the authority of legislation. Rents could be paid either by post or personally to the Melbourne office of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538) or to local Receivers and Paymasters as designated for each parish and Land District (subsequent to the formation of the Occupation Branch in c 1874). Receivers and Paymasters were often local Clerks of Courts.Previous to the passage of the Land Act of 1869, the payment of rents had been recorded in Registers of Licensees and Lessees. These continued for Section 33 of the Land Act 1869 and at the offices of local Receivers and Paymasters. Within the Department of Crown Lands itself and the Occupation Branch these Registers were superseded by the Rent Rolls.Details given in the rent rolls are the name of the licensee or lessee, the details of the location and size of the land, details of the payments of fees and of the date and amount of regular periodic payments of rent. Remarks include details of subsequent purchase of the land, of any transfers of leases or licenses to other holders and the subsequent payments made by those persons, any cancellation or revocation or instances of abandonment of the land by the occupier.Notifications of rents due at a particular date were circulated by notice or by lists published in the Government Gazette. The latter allowed local officers to be aware of the rents due in their areas. When the rents were paid to these officers, the payments were recorded in the local records and returns forwarded to the Department. Examples of these records may be seen in VPRS 809 Returns of Pastoral Rents Received. At the Occupation Branch, clerks (the rent rollers) were employed whose sole duties were the updating and maintenance of the rent rolls and preparation of certificates documenting payments where these were to be credited against the purchase price of land. Originally from about 1877, a rent roll clerk was attached to each "District Land Office" within the Occupation Branch.Rent rolls, like registers of applications, were arranged according to sections of a specific Land Act. For major provisions such as Sections 19 and 20, Land Act 1869 or Section 29, Land Act 1898 and Section 35, Land Act 1901, the rent roll recorded only payments relating to that section. Payments for obligations under other sections of the Land Acts could be included together in one roll. Separate rolls were kept for payments made in each Land District.Section 42 of the Land Act 1884 (as confirmed in the consolidated Land Act 1890) provided for the issue to grazing area lessees (under Section 32 of the same Act) of licences to occupy for agricultural allotments not exceeding 320 acres in extent. 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.Rent was set at one shilling per acre per annum with the licensee to reside on the allotment and make improvements to it. During the period of this license the land could be resumed by the Crown for a number of specified purposes with the repayment of any rentals or if the terms of the license were not complied with. If these conditions and conditions relating to the control of vermin and fencing were complied with at the end of this time, a lease for up to 14 years was able to be applied for at the rental of one shilling per acre per annum or a Crown grant could be obtained by the payment of the full purchase price of fourteen shillings per acre. Lessees could obtain a Crown grant at any time during this fourteen year period by the payment of the difference between the rent already paid under the lease and the set price of fourteen shillings per acre.This Section was amended in Section 44 of the Land Act 1898 to divide lands into three classes for the purpose of the licensing of these agricultural allotments. No more than 200 acres of first-class lands were to be licensed at the rent of one shilling per acre per annum; no more than three hundred and twenty acres of second-class land at the annual rental of ninepence per acre. Both types of land were to be licensed for no more than six years.In the 1898 Act, Sections 58 and 59 provided for the extension of the licensing and leasing provisions for agricultural allotments to grazing allotments. Sections 59 and 61 of the Land Act 1898 allowed for the issue of residential or non-residential licenses for grazing allotments on third class land. A license to occupy could initially be issued for up to six years for 640 acres. If conditions relating to the provision of fencing and the destruction of vermin were met, a lease for 14 years could be obtained at a cost of sixpence per acre. Rent payments could be used to defray the cost of purchase at ten shillings per acre.Under the consolidated Land Act of 1901, agricultural allotments were dealt with under Sections 47 (licensing) and 49 (leasing) and grazing allotments by Sections 54 (licensing) and Section 56 (leasing).From late 1907 the Department of Crown Lands and Survey began changing to cards for its recordkeeping systems with the rent roll being reported as mainly on cards by 1917.VPRS 13633 / P1 was previously registered as Units 7 and 8 of VPRS 631 / P Rent Rolls and Unit 62 of VPRS 446 / P Applications Registers, Land Act 1884.

所有王室土地（Crown lands）占用许可及王室土地租赁均需按照立法或依立法授权制定的法规所规定的金额与周期缴纳租金。
租金可通过邮寄或亲自缴至土地与测量署（Department of Crown Lands and Survey，VA 538）墨尔本办事处，亦可缴至约1874年占用管理科（Occupation Branch）成立后，为各教区及土地区指定的地方收款与出纳员（Receivers and Paymasters）。
地方收款与出纳员通常由当地法院书记员兼任。
在1869年《土地法（Land Act 1869）》颁布之前，租金缴纳情况均记录于《承租人及租赁人登记簿》中。该登记簿在1869年《土地法》第33条相关事务及地方收款与出纳员办事处仍沿用。而在土地与测量署本部及占用管理科内，此类登记簿已被租金登记册（Rent Rolls）取代。
租金登记册中记录的信息包括：承租人或租赁人姓名、土地位置与面积详情、费用缴纳详情，以及定期租金缴纳的日期与金额。
备注栏内容包括：土地后续买卖情况、租赁或许可转让给其他持有人的详情及受让人后续缴纳的租金、土地被占用方取消、撤销或放弃的相关案例。
特定日期到期的租金缴纳通知可通过公告或《政府公报（Government Gazette）》刊登的清单发布。后者可让地方官员知晓其辖区内的到期租金情况。
租金缴至上述人员后，缴纳情况将记录于地方档案，并向署本部报送回报报表。此类档案的示例可参见VPRS 809《已收牧地租金（Pastoral Rents）回报报表》。
占用管理科内聘用了书记员（即租金登记员，rent rollers），其唯一职责为更新与维护租金登记册，以及编制用于证明可抵扣土地购买价款的租金缴纳凭证。
自约1877年起，占用管理科下的每个“地区土地办事处”均配备一名租金登记员。
租金登记册与申请登记簿一样，均按照特定《土地法》的条款进行编排。对于1869年《土地法》第19、20条，1898年《土地法（Land Act 1898）》第29条及1901年《土地法（Land Act 1901）》第35条等核心条款，租金登记册仅记录与该条款相关的租金缴纳情况。而《土地法》其他条款项下的缴费义务则可合并记入同一本登记册。每个土地区的缴费情况均单独设立登记册。
1884年《土地法（Land Act 1884）》第42条（经1890年合并版《土地法（consolidated Land Act 1890）》确认）规定，可为牧地租赁人（依据该法第32条）颁发面积不超过320英亩的农业用地占用许可。此前依据旧版《土地法》已选定该面积土地的人员不适用此条款；此前选定面积不足320英亩的人员，则可补足差额以达到320英亩。
该许可项下的租金定为每英亩每年1先令，且许可持有人须在该地块居住并进行土地改良。许可有效期内，王室可因若干指定用途并退还已缴租金，或因许可条款未被遵守而收回该土地。若期满时满足上述条件及虫害防控、围栏建设相关要求，承租人可申请为期最长14年的租赁，租金仍为每英亩每年1先令；亦可通过缴纳每英亩14先令的全额购买价款获得王室土地授予（Crown grant）。在这14年期限内，承租人可随时补缴已缴租金与14先令/英亩定价的差额，以获得王室土地授予。
1898年《土地法》第44条对该条款进行了修订，将此类农业用地划分为三类以实施许可管理。一等土地的许可面积不得超过200英亩，租金为每英亩每年1先令；二等土地的许可面积不得超过320英亩，租金为每英亩每年9便士。两类土地的许可有效期均不得超过6年。
1898年《土地法》第58、59条将农业用地的许可与租赁条款扩展至牧地。该法第59、61条允许为三类土地上的牧地颁发住宅或非住宅占用许可。640英亩以内的牧地占用许可初始有效期最长为6年。若满足围栏建设与虫害灭杀相关要求，可按每英亩6便士的费用申请为期14年的租赁。已缴租金可用于抵扣每英亩10先令的土地购买价款。
在1901年合并版《土地法》框架下，农业用地的许可与租赁分别由第47条（许可）和第49条（租赁）规范，牧地的许可与租赁则分别由第54条（许可）和第56条（租赁）规范。
自1907年末起，土地与测量署开始将档案记录系统转换为卡片式管理，至1917年时，租金登记册已主要以卡片形式留存。
VPRS 13633 / P1原登记为VPRS 631 / P《租金登记册》的第7、8单元，以及VPRS 446 / P《1884年土地法申请登记簿》的第62单元。