VPRS 13472 Register of Applications, Seymour, Section 42 Land Act 1884 and 1890, Sections 44 and 59 Land Act 1898 and Sections 47 and 54 Land Act 1901 (Seymour District Survey Office)

This series was created by the District Survey Office at Seymour. It is duplicated by Register of Applications, Seymour, Section 42 Land Act 1884 and 1890, Sections 44 and 59 Land Act 1898 and Sections 47 and 54 Land Act 1901(Occupation Branch) (VPRS 13471) which is the register created by the 'Seymour District Office' at the Occupation Branch.VPRS 13472/ P1 was previously registered as Unit 74 of VPRS 446 / P Application Registers Land Act 1884 and Units 37 and 25 VPRS 455 / P Applications Registers, Land Act 1898.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. In addition, Section 59 allowed the licensing of third-class land for a period of six years for sixpence per acre per annum. 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).Instructions were given, with the issue of new stationery to District Survey Offices in 1899, that the numbers allocated for applications in these books were to commence at the whole thousand after that of the register currently in use. Thus if the current register for Section 42 applications had numbers between 1 and 1000, the new volume was to commence at number 2001. This ensured that all of these applications from the 1884 Land Act under Section 42 and its subsequent sections were registered in the one register. From the registers, and from other sources, it is apparent that from c1910, the Occupation Branch were keeping their records on index cards rather than in the volumes used prior to then.When an application to select Crown land was received by the Department it would be registered in a register of applications. The contents of registers of applications were arranged alphabetically and application numbers were allocated consecutively in blocks for each letter of the alphabet.Separate registers of applications were usually created for each section of the Land Act under which individuals could apply to select land. For example, all applications received under Section 42 of the Land Act 1884 were recorded in the same register. Sections of an Act that were less common, however, were often recorded together in the one register.In an attempt to try and rationalise the way the Department managed Crown land, the Occupation Branch was established in 1874 under the influence of H Byron Moore, Assistant Surveyor General. The Occupation Branch was to deal with all matters relating to the occupation of Crown land.The State was divided into fifteen Land Districts, these being Ararat, Ballarat, Beechworth, Benalla, Castlemaine and Dunolly, Echuca, Geelong Warrnambool and Camperdown, Hamilton, Horsham, Melbourne, Sale and Bairnsdale, Sandhurst (Bendigo), Seymour and St Arnaud. Each District was represented at the Occupation Branch in Melbourne by a 'District Land Office'.Each District Land Office consisted of a double table or desk at which both a clerk and draughtsman sat. Everything in the way of files, maps and plans were at convenient reach. The same officers dealt with the sale of Crown land from its 'inception to its disposition'. The District Offices' staff consisted essentially of a clerical officer and a draughtsman who dealt solely with that Land District. It was their business to know the District and to deal with all land business related to it. By 1877 each District Land Office, consisted of a District Officer, a rental clerk, a draughtsman and several general clerks.After the establishment of the Occupation Branch in 1874 and the division of the State into Land Districts, applications were registered by District. Each 'District Land Office' created and maintained their own series of registers of applications. Any new applications received by the Department after 1874 were registered in separate District registers with applications numbers that were allocated from the number one onwards. The same application number could be allocated for selections in different Districts. For example the application number 1021/32 could exist in both the Ballarat and Bendigo Land Districts. It is the District name plus the accompanying file number that is the unique identifier.Applicants completed an application form at District Survey Offices. Most Land Districts had a District Survey Office. The District Surveyor would enter the applicants' details in a register of applications kept at the District Survey Office. The register of applications allocated a number to each applicant. The application number was written on the application to select and subsequently became their land selection file number if their application was approved.The District Surveyor would enter into the register of applications the application number, the date the application was received, the applicants' name, occupation and parish, the allotment number and size (acres, roods and perches) applied for. The application was then forwarded to the appropriate District Land Office at the Occupation Branch in Melbourne. It was then entered in a duplicate register of applications there against the same application number. The District Surveyor also forwarded a tracing of the allotment applied for.The location of the allotment applied for was immediately charted on a working plan in pencil. The tracing was then sent to the Department of Mines and Water Supply (VA 2720) for a report on any mining objections. If there were no mining objections the application would be heard before a Local Land Board. Local Land Boards were made up of representatives from the local community and the Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538). The Boards would hear from all applicants for an allotment and would decide who was to be granted the licence or lease. The schedule documenting the decisions of the Local Land Board was forwarded to the appropriate District Land Office at the Occupation Branch and the decision was entered into the register of applications.The Board of Land and Works (VA 744), the statutory authority for the management of Crown land, would give final approval for land selection, acting on the recommendation of the Local Land Board. The decision of the Board of Lands and Works (VA 744) was then recorded in the register of applications. The registers also record the date of the licence or lease issued and any subsequent action in relation to that file. The selectors granted each allotment would then be recorded on the working plan by the District Land Office draughtsman at the Occupation Branch. The tracing of the allotment was then sent to the Crown Land Bailiff responsible for that Land District.Registers of applications control selection and occupation files. If an application to select Crown land was successful, the application number would become the file number. For example, if an application to select under Section 42 of the Land Act 1884 was registered as application number 324 then the selection or occupation file number would be 324/42.The application number remained the selection file number for a particular piece of land if all terms and conditions were met and the selection resulted in a Crown Grant. However, often the original selector did not end up owning the land. Many selectors forfeited or abandoned their licence or lease. If this were the case then the land was re-opened up for selection. Any new applicants were registered in a register of applications under a new application number. The original applicants file would be attached to the new selectors file. The new file number was annotated in the register against the original selectors' entry.Even if the same selector applied for a licence on land he had previously forfeited, a new application number would be allocated and the file would have a new selection file number.

本系列档案由西摩区测量办公室编制，其副本为西摩区1884年与1890年《土地法》第42条、1898年《土地法》第44、59条及1901年《土地法》第47、54条（职业分支）项下的申请登记簿（VPRS 13471），该登记簿由职业分支的西摩区办公室编制。
VPRS 13472/P1原归类为1884年《土地法》申请登记簿VPRS 446/P的第74单元，以及1898年《土地法》申请登记簿VPRS 455/P的第37、25单元。
1884年《土地法》第42条（经1890年合并版《土地法》确认）规定，为牧场承租人（依据该法第32条）颁发不超过320英亩的农业地块占用许可证。依据此前土地法已申请过同等面积土地的申请人，不适用本条款。已申请不足320英亩土地的申请人，可补充申请剩余额度以凑至320英亩。
许可证年费为每英亩1先令，持证人需在该地块居住并对其进行改良。许可证有效期内，若持证人未遵守许可条款，或已缴付全部租金后，王室可因若干指定事由收回该地块。若有效期届满时，持证人已遵守上述条款及虫害防控、围栏建设相关规定，可申请最长14年的租赁权，年费仍为每英亩1先令；或可通过支付每英亩14先令的全额购置款，获得王室土地授予。租赁期内，承租人可随时补缴租赁租金与14先令/英亩购置款的差额，以提前获得王室土地授予。
1898年《土地法》第44条对本条款进行修订，将农业地块许可证项下的土地划分为三级。一级土地的许可面积不得超过200英亩，年费为每英亩1先令；二级土地的许可面积不得超过320英亩，年费为每英亩9便士。两类土地的许可有效期均不得超过6年。
1898年《土地法》第58、59条将农业地块的许可与租赁条款扩展至牧场地块。此外，第59条允许对三级土地发放许可证，有效期6年，年费为每英亩6便士。
1901年合并版《土地法》规定，农业地块的许可与租赁分别依据第47条（许可）与第49条（租赁）办理，牧场地块则分别依据第54条（许可）与第56条（租赁）办理。
1899年，当局向各区测量办公室发放新文具时发布指令，要求此类登记簿中的申请编号需从当前在用登记簿编号的下一个整千数开始编排。例如，若当前第42条申请登记簿的编号范围为1至1000，则新登记簿的编号需从2001开始。此举旨在将1884年《土地法》第42条及其后续条款项下的全部申请统一登记至同一登记簿中。
从登记簿及其他档案来源可知，约1910年起，职业分支不再使用此前的卷宗式档案，转而使用索引卡片留存记录。
当土地管理部门收到王室土地申请后，会将其登记至申请登记簿。申请登记簿的内容按字母顺序编排，申请编号按字母表顺序分段连续分配。
通常会依据土地法的不同条款设立单独的申请登记簿，申请人可通过这些条款申请土地。例如，所有依据1884年《土地法》第42条提交的申请均登记在同一登记簿中。而使用频率较低的法案条款，其申请通常会合并登记至同一登记簿。
为优化王室土地管理流程，1874年在助理测量总监H·拜伦·摩尔的推动下，职业分支正式成立，负责处理所有与王室土地占用相关的事务。
该州被划分为15个土地管辖区，分别为：阿拉拉特、巴拉腊特、比奇沃思、贝纳拉、卡斯尔梅恩与杜诺利、伊丘卡、吉隆-瓦南布尔与坎珀当、哈密尔顿、霍舍姆、墨尔本、塞尔与拜恩斯代尔、桑德赫斯特（本迪戈）、西摩及圣阿诺德。每个辖区在墨尔本的职业分支均设有对应的“区土地办公室”。
每个区土地办公室设有双人工作台，供办事员与绘图员共同办公，文件、地图与图纸等物料均放置在随手可取的位置。同一批工作人员负责王室土地从受理到处置的全流程业务。区土地办公室的核心人员为专职办理本辖区土地业务的办事员与绘图员，其职责包括熟悉辖区情况并处理所有相关土地事务。至1877年，每个区土地办公室已配备区主管、租金办事员、绘图员及若干普通办事员。
1874年职业分支成立并完成州内土地辖区划分后，申请按辖区进行登记。每个区土地办公室均编制并维护独立的申请登记簿系列。1874年后部门收到的新申请均登记至专属的辖区登记簿，申请编号从1开始连续编排。不同辖区可使用相同的申请编号，例如巴拉腊特与本迪戈土地辖区均可存在申请编号1021/32。因此，辖区名称搭配附带的文件编号才是唯一标识符。
申请人需在区测量办公室填写申请表。多数土地辖区均设有区测量办公室，区测量员会将申请人的详细信息登记至保存在区测量办公室的申请登记簿中，并为每位申请人分配申请编号。申请编号会标注在土地申请文件上，若申请获批，该编号将成为申请人的土地选任文件编号。
区测量员需在申请登记簿中记录申请编号、收件日期、申请人姓名、职业与教区、申请地块编号及面积（英亩、路得、平方杆）。随后，申请文件会被转交至墨尔本职业分支对应的区土地办公室，由其在副本申请登记簿中以相同的申请编号进行登记。区测量员还需同步转交申请地块的描图。
申请地块的位置会立即以铅笔绘制在工作平面图上。随后，描图会被送交矿业与供水部（VA 2720），以获取矿业异议相关报告。若无矿业异议，申请将提交至地方土地委员会审议。地方土地委员会由当地社区代表及王室土地与测量部（VA 538）的代表组成，负责听取所有地块申请人的陈述，并决定许可证或租赁权的授予对象。记录地方土地委员会决议的清单会被转交至墨尔本职业分支对应的区土地办公室，并将决议内容登记至申请登记簿。
负责王室土地管理的法定机构土地与工程委员会（VA 744）会依据地方土地委员会的建议，对土地选任申请作出最终批准。土地与工程委员会的决议会被登记至申请登记簿，同时登记簿还会记录许可证或租赁权的签发日期，以及该文件后续的所有相关操作。获得地块授予的选任人信息，会由墨尔本职业分支区土地办公室的绘图员登记至工作平面图。随后，地块描图会被送交负责对应辖区的王室土地法警。
申请登记簿管控着土地选任与占用文件。若王室土地选任申请获批，申请编号将成为文件编号。例如，若依据1884年《土地法》第42条提交的选任申请登记编号为324，则该选任或占用文件的编号为324/42。
若申请人遵守全部条款且最终获得王室土地授予，申请编号将持续作为该地块的选任文件编号。但通常情况下，初始选任人最终未必能持有该土地，许多选任人会因违约或主动放弃许可证/租赁权而丧失资格。此时，该土地会重新开放供选任。新申请人需以新的申请编号登记至申请登记簿，原申请人的文件会被附至新选任人的文件中。登记簿中原申请人的条目旁会标注新的文件编号。
即便同一选任人就其此前已丧失资格的土地再次申请许可证，仍需分配新的申请编号，文件也将使用新的选任文件编号。