VPRS 13649 Rent Roll, Castlemaine, Section 22 Amending Land Act 1891 and Section 106 Land Act 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 Within the Department of Crown Lands itself and the Occupation Branch these Registers were superseded by the Rent Rolls.Details given in the rent rolls are the name of the licensee or lessee, the details of the location and size of the land, details of the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.The Land Act 1890 Amendment of 1891, in Section 22 (later Section 106 of the Land Act 1901), provided for worked out auriferous (gold bearing) lands to be proclaimed and licensed for occupation. No individual could occupy more than five acres for a period not exceeding seven years. Rent was to be no less than one shilling per acre and the land was to be used for such purposes as residence, place of business or for use as an orchard, vineyard or garden. After seven years, a Crown grant could be applied for with payment of not less than one pound per acre with previously paid rentals being used to defray the purchase price.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 13649 / P1 was previously registered as Unit 83 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立法授权制定的规章所规定的金额与周期缴纳租金。租金可通过邮寄或亲自缴纳至王室土地与测量部（Department of Crown Lands and Survey，编号VA 538）墨尔本办事处，亦可缴纳至各教区与土地区指定的当地收款与出纳员（Receivers and Paymasters）处——该指定机制自1874年左右土地占用分部（Occupation Branch）成立后开始实施。收款与出纳员通常为当地法院书记员（Clerks of Courts）。在1869年《土地法》（Land Act 1869）通过之前，租金缴纳情况均记录于持照人与承租人登记册（Registers of Licensees and Lessees）中。该类登记册在1869年《土地法》第33条相关事务中仍被沿用，并存放在当地收款与出纳员的办事处中。在王室土地部本部及土地占用分部内，此类登记册已被租金登记簿（Rent Rolls）取代。租金登记簿中记载的信息包括：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。备注信息则涵盖土地后续购买、租赁或许可向其他持有人转让及受让人后续缴纳款项的详情，还有土地被占用者取消、撤销或遗弃的相关案例。特定日期到期的租金缴纳通知会通过公告或刊载于《政府公报》（Government Gazette）的名单进行发布。后者可让当地官员知晓其辖区内的到期租金情况。当租金缴纳至该类官员处时，缴纳情况会被记录于当地档案中，并将回执呈报至本部。此类档案的示例可参见档案编号VPRS 809《已收畜牧租金回执》。在土地占用分部内，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，并编制用于证明已缴租金可抵扣土地购买价款的凭证。自1877年左右起，土地占用分部下的每个“地区土地办事处”均配备一名租金登记簿管理员。与申请登记册一样，租金登记簿亦按照特定《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》第29条以及1901年《土地法》第35条这类主要条款，租金登记簿仅记录与该条款相关的租金缴纳情况。而针对《土地法》其他条款下的缴费义务，相关款项可合并记录于同一登记簿中。每个土地区均设有单独的租金登记簿。1891年修订的1890年《土地法》第22条（后并入1901年《土地法》第106条）规定，可宣布并许可对已开采完毕的含金土地（auriferous lands）进行占用。任何个人占用的土地不得超过5英亩，且占用期限不得超过7年。租金不得低于每英亩1先令，土地可用于居住、经营场所、果园、葡萄园或花园用途。7年期满后，可申请王室土地授予书（Crown grant），缴纳金额不得低于每英亩1英镑，且此前已缴纳的租金可用于抵扣购地款。自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年时，租金登记簿的记录形式已主要转为卡片式。档案编号VPRS 13649 / P1此前曾登记为VPRS 631 / P《租金登记簿》第83单元。