VPRS 13691 Rent Roll, Kerang, 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 Within the Department of Crown Lands itself and the Occupation Branch these Registers were superseded by the Rent Rolls.Details given in the rent rolls are the name of the licensee or lessee, the details of the location and size of the land, details of the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 13691 / P1 was previously registered as Units 144 and 145 of VPRS 631 / P Rent Rolls.

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规章所规定的金额与周期支付租金。租金可通过邮寄或亲赴王室土地与测量部（Department of Crown Lands and Survey，VA 538）墨尔本办事处，或交由各教区及土地辖区指定的本地收款员与出纳员（Receivers and Paymasters，约1874年土地占用分部（Occupation Branch）成立后设立）缴纳。收款员与出纳员通常由本地法院书记员（Clerks of Courts）兼任。
在1869年《土地法（Land Act）》通过前，租金缴纳情况均记录于持照人与承租人登记簿（Registers of Licensees and Lessees）。该登记簿在1869年《土地法》第33条相关事务中仍继续沿用，并由本地收款员与出纳员办事处留存。而在王室土地部本部及土地占用分部，此类登记簿已被租金登记簿（Rent Rolls）取代。
租金登记簿所载详情包括持照人或承租人姓名、土地位置与面积详情、费用缴纳详情，以及定期租金支付的日期与金额。备注栏则涵盖土地后续购买、租赁或许可证转让至其他持有人及受让人后续缴纳款项、土地被取消/撤销或占用人放弃土地等相关细节。
特定日期应缴租金的通知可通过公告或刊载于《政府公报（Government Gazette）》的名单发布。后者可使本地官员知晓其辖区内的应缴租金情况。当租金缴纳至上述官员处时，相关款项会记录于本地档案，并由官员向本部报送申报表。此类档案的示例可参见VPRS 809《收到的畜牧租金申报表（Returns of Pastoral Rents Received）》。在土地占用分部，受雇的书记员（即租金登记簿管理员）的唯一职责为更新与维护租金登记簿，并编制用于抵充土地购买价款的缴费证明。自约1877年起，本部会为土地占用分部下辖的各“地区土地办事处（District Land Office）”配备一名租金登记簿管理员。
租金登记簿与申请登记簿一样，均按照特定《土地法》的条款编排。对于1869年《土地法》第19、20条，1898年《土地法》第29条及1901年《土地法》第35条等主要条款，租金登记簿仅记录与该条款相关的缴费。而依据《土地法》其他条款产生的缴费义务，则可合并记录于同一登记簿。本部会为每个土地辖区分别设立租金登记簿。
1884年《土地法（Land Act）》（经1890年合并版《土地法》确认）第42条规定，可为放牧区承租人（grazing area lessees，依据同一法案第32条）颁发许可，使其可占用面积不超过320英亩的农业地块（agricultural allotments）。依据此前《土地法》选定过该面积土地的人员，不得享受本条款优惠。此前选定土地面积不足320英亩者，可补足差额以达到320英亩。
此类许可的租金定为每英亩每年1先令，持照人需在地块上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收回土地，并退还已缴租金；若持照人未遵守许可条款，王室亦可收回土地。若遵守许可条款及有害动物（vermin）防控、围栏建设相关规定，许可期满后，申请人可申请为期最长14年的租赁，租金仍为每英亩每年1先令；或可通过缴纳每英亩14先令的全额购置价款，获得王室土地产权授予（Crown grant）。承租人可在这14年期限内的任意时间，通过补缴已缴租金与每英亩14先令的定价之间的差额，申请获得王室土地产权授予。
本条款经1898年《土地法》第44条修订，将此类农业地块的许可区划分为三类。一类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；二类土地的许可面积不得超过320英亩，年租金为每英亩9便士。两类土地的许可期限均不得超过6年。
1898年《土地法》第58、59条规定，将农业地块的许可与租赁条款扩展至放牧地块。1898年《土地法》第59、61条允许为三类土地上的放牧地块颁发居住或非居住占用许可。初始占用许可的期限最长可达6年，对应地块面积为640英亩。若遵守围栏建设与有害动物灭杀相关规定，可申请为期14年的租赁，费用为每英亩6便士。已缴租金可用于抵充每英亩10先令的购置价款。
依据1901年合并版《土地法》，农业地块的许可与租赁分别受第47条（许可）与第49条（租赁）规制，放牧地块则分别受第54条（许可）与第56条（租赁）规制。
1907年末起，王室土地与测量部开始改用卡片系统进行档案管理，至1917年，租金登记簿的记录形式已基本转为卡片式。VPRS 13691 / P1此前曾登记为VPRS 631 / P《租金登记簿（Rent Rolls）》的第144、145组。