VPRS 14140 Register of Applications, All Districts, Section 42, Amending Land Act 1865 II

Section 42 of the Amending Land Act 1865 was designed to allow the use of lands on or adjacent to the goldfields to the advantage of the general population without interfering with the operations of miners. Occupation , at a modest rental, was to be temporary and for the purposes of residence and cultivation. Each licence was to cover a maximum of twenty acres for no more than one year although persons could apply for multiple licences. Rental, to be paid to Receivers of Revenue or Paymasters, was fixed at the rate of two pounds ten shillings per annum for less than 10 acres and at four pounds per annum for an area of between 10 and 20 acres. License holders were required to make identifiable improvements - to enclose their allotments and cultivate a prescribed proportion of the area to demonstrate their bona fides.Applications could be made locally or in Melbourne. This series contains the registrations of applications, made at the central office by applicants from all districts of the state and records of applications made locally. Each application was allocated a sequential number. Other details recorded were the date of the application, the date of registration, the name of the applicant, the area applied for in acres, roods and perches, the allotment and section, the locality (indicated by parish name), any objections made (most often by mining interests), the decision of the commission and remarks. Notations in the remarks column are most often to do with referrals to other officers of the Department. Most often, for approved applications, the final referral is to the District Surveyor for that locality. Some correspondence references are given, often giving the file number relating to an application to purchase or lease the land under Section 31 of the Land Act 1869.Applications that were originally received by the local officer of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey were also registered in the locally maintained Register of Applications , for example VPRS 13036 Register of Applications, St Arnaud, Section 42, Land Act 1865 and Section 19, Land Act 1869. See the Inventory of Series for VA 538 Department of Crown Lands and Survey for other locally maintained Registers of Applications.As this land had already been surveyed for mining purposes and to determine the extent of the auriferous (or gold-bearing) lands, applications could be ruled upon efficiently and expeditiously. An application under this section of the Act was able to be submitted to either the Department of Crown Lands and Survey in Melbourne or at the office of the local representative or agent of the Department. Some 36 land offices were established throughout the Colony to deal with applications received under this Act. The application would be registered in an Applications Register and allocated a number in order of receipt. Those applications for All Districts received at Melbourne were then indexed by name of applicant and the allocated number.The functions of this commission were to investigate and report upon every application, to protect the public and local interests and promote the advantageous occupation of land. Commissions included in their membership the Surveyor-General, the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Survey, the Secretary for Mines, chairmen and members of Mining Boards and Shire Council and were assisted by District Surveyors, other officers of the Department and Mining Surveyors who had made the surveys of the sites applied for. These commissions or enquiries were made in district centres and other principal centres of population on and in the vicinity of the goldfields. The decision with respect to the application arrived at by the commission was then entered in the Applications Register. For District Registers, it became the practice to register and arrange applications with them directly relating to specific sittings of the commission at a specific place on a specific date.With the granting of the application, application then had to be made to the Governor-in-Council, as prescribed in the Act, to grant a licence of occupation to the successful applicant. In the same way, cancellations and / or revocations of licences and transfers of licences had to be approved by the Governor-in-Council. Some of these records may be seen in VPRS 863 Orders in Council Regarding the Issue and Cancellation of Licences , Land Acts 1865 and 1869.Once this leave had been granted by the Governor-in-Council, the licence was issued and an entry was then made in the Licence Register. These registers were arranged firstly by district or group of contiguous districts and then in alphabetical sections according to family name of the licensee. The Licence Register provided a record of the number of the licence issued (different to the application number), the location and size of the land, the payment of rents and, in the remarks column, the subsequent history of that holding of land and of the licence to occupy it.At some point after the granting of the application, a file was created upon which were placed the original application and other subsequent correspondence with respect to it. These files have also been allocated sequential numbers (see VPRS 624 Land Selection Files, Land Act 1865) as determined by this register. It is possible that files relating to earlier applications (see VPRS 13034) were renumbered into the consecutive number sequence in this series and re-entered in the registers comprising this series. Insufficient evidence exists at this time (December 2003) to reach firm conclusions regarding this.In August 1868, additional regulations were made under Section 42 of the Amending Land Act of 1865. These regulations extended the distance from a goldfield within which selections might be made to thirty miles and authorised the issue of eight licences per person thus allowing each selector to obtain 160 acres. Applications were able to be made once again at both District Offices and the Central Office. Land had been surveyed in preparation and Commissions were held immediately upon the Regulations coming into operation to decide upon these applications. Records in custody show that these applications were kept separately in the Applications Registers, although, once licences were granted, they were entered into the existing Licence Registers.From the Licence Registers, it is apparent that much of the land selected and occupied under Section 42 of the Amending Land Act 1865 was either purchased under Section 31 of the Land Act 1869 or converted to leases under section 19 of the Land Act 1869. Other selections were able to be purchased at public auction, whilst others remained under the occupation of licensees for a lengthy period of time with licences able to be transferred or bequeathed.

1865年《土地修订法案》（Amending Land Act 1865）第42条旨在允许为惠及普通民众而使用金矿区（goldfields）内或毗邻金矿区的土地，同时不干扰矿工的作业活动。该条款规定，以适度租金获得的土地占用应为临时性质，仅用于居住与耕作。每份执照的覆盖面积上限为20英亩，有效期不超过1年，但个人可申请多份执照。租金需缴纳给税收管理员（Receivers of Revenue）或出纳员（Paymasters），面积不足10英亩的年费为2英镑10先令，10至20英亩的年费为4英镑。执照持有人需进行可识别的改良工程——围封其分配地块，并耕作规定比例的土地，以证明其诚意。

申请可在本地或墨尔本提交。本系列档案包含全州各地区申请人在中央办公室提交的申请登记记录，以及本地提交的申请记录。每份申请均分配有连续编号。记录的其他细节包括：申请日期、登记日期、申请人姓名、以英亩、路得（rood）、平方杆（perch）为单位的申请面积、分配地块与区段、所在地区（以教区名称标注）、收到的异议（多来自矿业利益方）、审核委员会的决议，以及备注信息。备注栏中的标注多涉及转介至Crown土地与测量部（Department of Crown Lands and Survey）其他官员的流程，对于获批申请，最终通常会转介至对应地区的地区测量员。部分档案会附上通信参考信息，常包含与1869年《土地法案》第31条下土地购买或租赁申请相关的档案编号。

原本由土地与测量部本地官员接收的申请，也会登记在本地维护的申请登记册中，例如VPRS 13036《圣阿尔诺申请登记册》，涵盖1865年《土地法案》第42条与1869年《土地法案》第19条相关内容。可查阅VA 538号档案系列《土地与测量部档案目录》以获取其他本地维护的申请登记册信息。

由于该土地此前已为采矿目的及确定含金（auriferous）土地范围完成测量，因此申请可得到高效且迅速的审批。依据本法案条款提交的申请，可递交给墨尔本的土地与测量部，或该部门本地代表/代理机构的办公室。当时殖民地全境共设立了约36个土地办事处，用于处理依据本法案提交的申请。申请会登记在申请登记册中，并按接收顺序分配编号。在墨尔本中央办公室接收的各地区申请，会按申请人姓名与分配编号编制索引。

审核委员会的职能是对每份申请进行调查并提交报告，以保护公众与本地利益，推动土地的有利利用。委员会成员包括测量总监（Surveyor-General）、土地与测量助理专员、矿业大臣、矿业委员会主席与成员，以及郡议会代表，并由地区测量员、本部其他官员及已对申请地块完成测量的矿业测量员（Mining Surveyors）提供协助。此类委员会或问询会在金矿区及周边的地区中心与其他主要人口中心举办。委员会对申请作出的决议会被录入申请登记册。对于本地登记册，通常的做法是将与特定日期、特定地点举行的委员会会议直接相关的申请进行登记与整理。

若申请获批，还需依据法案规定向总督会同行政局（Governor-in-Council）提交申请，以向成功申请人颁发占用执照。同理，执照的注销/撤销与执照转让也需经总督会同行政局批准。部分此类记录可在VPRS 863《关于1865年与1869年土地法案的执照颁发与注销枢密院令》中查阅。

一旦总督会同行政局批准许可，即可颁发执照，并在执照登记册中录入相关条目。此类登记册首先按地区或毗邻地区群组编排，随后按执照持有人姓氏的字母顺序划分章节。执照登记册记录的内容包括：颁发的执照编号（与申请编号不同）、土地位置与面积、租金缴纳情况，以及备注栏中记录的该地块持有与占用执照的后续历史。

在申请获批后的某个节点，会创建一份档案袋，收纳原始申请及后续相关的所有通信记录。这些档案也被分配了连续编号（参见VPRS 624《1865年土地法案土地选地档案》（Land Selection Files）），编号规则由本登记册确定。早期申请相关的档案（参见VPRS 13034）有可能被重新编入本系列的连续编号序列，并重新录入本系列包含的登记册中。截至2003年12月，尚无足够证据对此作出确切结论。

1868年8月，依据1865年《土地修订法案》第42条制定了额外条例。该条例将可申请选地的金矿区距离上限延长至30英里，并授权每人最多可颁发8份执照，即每位选地人可获得160英亩土地。申请仍可在地区办事处与中央办公室提交。相关土地已完成勘测准备工作，条例生效后立即召开委员会会议审批此类申请。现存档案显示，此类申请在申请登记册中单独保管，但获批执照后，会被录入现有执照登记册。

从执照登记册中可以看出，依据1865年《土地修订法案》第42条选定并占用的大部分土地，要么依据1869年《土地法案》第31条完成购买，要么依据1869年《土地法案》第19条转为租赁。其他选地可通过公开拍卖购买，另有部分地块由持照人长期占用，执照可转让或遗赠。