VPRS 13928 Register of Applications, Homestead Associations Settlement on Lands Act 1893 and Land Act 1901

The Settlement on Lands Act 1893 was passed with a view to providing an outlet for the unemployed labour of Victoria through the establishment of three main types of rural settlement. Homestead Associations was one of these.Associations or combinations of not less than six people who desired to settle on Crown land adjacent to each other could, on registration of the association and its members with and the payment of the registration fee to the Board of Land and Works, have up to 2,000 acres reserved for allocation to the members of the association. Members had to be over the age of eighteen and not have any other land holdings. This series contains applications made to the Board of Land and Works by such associations. The name of the association and the names of the members (including the Secretary) are given as is the location and description of the land applied for, the result of the application and any remarks.Each member was able to occupy no more than 50 acres. Occupancy was by license for three years at a nominal rent with no member able to receive more than one permit to occupy. (The Rent Rolls held by PROV as VPRS 13929 document the payment of the nominal rent during this three year period.) After this time, a lease could be granted for a period of twenty years as long as specific conditions were met including the cultivation of set proportions of the allotment within specific time frames and residence by the lessee or a member of his family during the period of the lease (Section 20 of the 1893 Act and Section 332 of the consolidated Land Act 1901). Advances not exceeding fifteen pounds for building upon and improving the allotment by way of a loan might be made to permissive occupants. These advances were to be repaid in some twenty annual instalments with the first instalment being due with the issue of the lease. Those who received advances were to match the sum advanced in expenditure.Township sites were to be located within the same area with no more than 100 acres to be allowed. Each occupant of a homestead allotment could also be granted a lease of a one acre township allotment (Section 26 of the 1893 Act and Section 337 of the consolidated Land Act 1901).These associations were deemed to have been unsuccessful with the relevant portions of the Act being repealed in 1904. Leases issued to associations under Sections 20 and 26 of the Settlement on Land Act 1893 may be seen in VPRS 11874/P1 Register of Leases Granted Under section 5, 20 and 26 of the Settlement on Lands Act 1893. Files relating to individual allotments may be able to be found in VPRS 5357/P Land Selection and Correspondence Files or VPRS 440 Occupation Files - District Series using the denominators 20 or 26.

1893年《土地定居法》（Settlement on Lands Act 1893）的出台，旨在通过建立三类主要乡村定居模式，为维多利亚州的失业劳动力提供安置渠道。宅地协会（Homestead Associations）便是其中一类。凡欲在相邻王室土地上定居的至少六人组成的协会或联合体，在向土地和工程委员会（Board of Land and Works）完成协会及其成员的注册手续并缴纳注册费后，可预留至多2000英亩土地用于分配给协会成员。协会成员需年满18周岁，且无其他土地持有记录。本数据集收录了此类协会向土地和工程委员会提交的各类申请，内容涵盖协会名称、成员（含秘书）姓名、申请土地的位置与概况、申请结果及相关备注信息。每名成员最多可占用不超过50英亩土地，占用方式为为期三年的许可租赁，租金为象征性金额，且每名成员仅可获得一份占用许可。维多利亚公共档案馆（Public Record Office Victoria，简称PROV）所藏VPRS 13929号档案《租金登记簿》，记录了该三年租期内的象征性租金缴纳情况。租期届满后，若满足特定条件，可授予20年租期的正式租赁权，这些条件包括在规定时限内开垦指定比例的地块，以及承租人或其家庭成员在租赁期内居住于此（详见1893年法案第20条及1901年合并版《土地法》第332条）。对于许可占用者，可提供最高不超过15英镑的贷款，用于地块上的建筑建造与改良工作。该贷款需分约20期逐年偿还，首期还款于租赁权颁发时到期，且获得贷款者需自行投入与贷款金额等额的配套资金。城镇用地需设于定居区域范围内，单处城镇用地占地面积不得超过100英亩。每名宅地地块占用者还可额外获得1英亩城镇地块的租赁权（详见1893年法案第26条及1901年合并版《土地法》第337条）。此类协会最终被认定为运营失败，相关法案条款于1904年被废止。根据1893年《土地定居法》第20、26条授予协会的租赁档案，可在VPRS 11874/P1《1893年土地定居法第5、20、26条项下租赁登记册》中查阅。与单个地块相关的档案，可通过编号20或26，在VPRS 5357/P《土地选择与通信档案》或VPRS 440《占用档案——地区系列》中检索。