VPRS 478 Miner's Right Receipt Stubs, Avoca Mining Division

This series consists of receipt stubs for miner's rights issued by individuals stationed at a local court house. In 1855 the gold licensing system introduced in 1853 was replaced by a system of miners' rights administered by Local Courts which operated in designated districts, and had similar powers to a Court of Petty Sessions (18 Vic.,No.37). Miner's rights were issued by the Mining Warden responsible for the goldfield These arrangements were further refined by the 1857 Act 20 Vic.,No.32 which set up a more complex administrative and judicial structure within Mining Districts Wardens were relieved of this duty by an order of The Treasurer dated 28 January 1863 (refer Government Gazette page 258) in favour of receivers and paymasters of the Treasury, or in areas without them, Clerks of the Court of Petty Sessions. Over the next few years a number of additional individuals were appointed and on 28 January 1867 another order of the Treasurer appointed all Mining Warden Clerks and Clerks of the Court of Petty Sessions to issue them (refer Government Gazette page 264). In many country locations both Clerks operated from the same location and could have been the same person. Miner's Rights were documents enabling individuals to mine for gold under certain conditions upon payment of a fee. They were originally printed in books containing these stubs. Payment detail was recorded on the stub and the Right removed and given to the applicant. Information recorded in the butts included the Miner's Right Number, Mining District and location in which it was issued, date of issue and the name and address of the person to whom it was issued. Copies of the Miner's Right issued were not kept.

本数据集系列为驻当地法院的公职人员所签发的矿工权证存根。1853年引入的金矿许可制度，于1855年被由指定辖区内的地方法院（Local Courts）管理的矿工权证制度取代，此类法院职权与治安法庭（Court of Petty Sessions，18 Vic., No.37）相仿。矿工权证由负责对应金矿区的矿业监管员（Mining Warden）签发。1857年第20 Vic., No.32号法案进一步完善了相关制度架构，在矿业辖区（Mining District）内设立了更为复杂的行政与司法体系。1863年1月28日，财政大臣（Treasurer）发布命令（参见《政府公报》（Government Gazette）第258页），免去矿业监管员的此项签发职责，改由财政部收款员与出纳员负责；若辖区未设置此类人员，则由治安法庭书记员承担此项工作。此后数年间，新增多名受任命人员；1867年1月28日，财政大臣再次发布命令，授权所有矿业监管员书记员及治安法庭书记员均可签发矿工权证（Miner's Right），参见《政府公报》第264页。在诸多乡村地区，两类书记员均在同一地点办公，甚至可能为同一人。矿工权证是缴纳规定费用后，允许个人在特定条件下开展金矿开采的合法凭证。此类权证最初印制于带有存根联的簿册中：缴费细节记录于存根联之上，权证则被取下交由申请人留存。所留存的存根联记录的信息包括：矿工权证编号、签发所属矿业辖区及签发地点、签发日期，以及权证持有人的姓名与住址。所签发的矿工权证未留存副本。