VPRS 13298 Register of Applications, Dunolly, Section 42 Land Act 1865 and Sections 19 and 49 Land Act 1869.

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.Under the Land Act 1869, holders of licenses under Section 42 Amending Land Act 1865 were able to continue holding their licenses. They were also able to consolidate licenses held, where more than one was held by a particular person when making application under Section 19 Land Act 1869. Section 19 allowed the granting of a license by the Governor to occupy Crown land. The area was to be no more than 320 acres and the license was to be granted for no more than three years at a cost of two shillings per acre per annum. Under Section 20, the land had to be occupied by the licensee, improvements made within two years and the fee was to be paid half-yearly. If these conditions were complied with, a lease for a longer period (up to seven years) could be obtained and the lessor could subsequently purchase the land.Under section 49 of the Land Act 1869 selectors could apply for a licence to occupy and cultivate auriferous (gold field) land. The licence was for one year and the size of the land occupied was not to exceed 20 acres. The licence was renewable each year with the payment of a licence fee. A selector could not hold more than one licence under section 49 of the Land Act 1869.The Application Register in this series was one kept by the land office at Dunolly to register applications and record details of the application. Once this was complete, if the application had been approved, it would then be forwarded to Melbourne Once the application was received in Melbourne it was registered in VPRS 13034/P1 Registers of Applications, All Districts, Section 42, Land Act 1865 or the relevant Register of Applications for Sections 19 and 49 Land Act 1869.The application was allocated a sequential number in the office of the District Surveyor. A space was left in the standard volume for the entry of the subsequent departmental number which contain some entries referring to a year, a number and a letter. Originally, these were registered as a correspondence number before the use of the year was deleted. Other details entered are the name of the applicant, the address and parish, the allotment and section being applied for, a description of it and the area of the land. Details on the facing page refer to the investigation and reporting process with columns for the identity of the surveyor, the date of the appointment, date of receipt (of the survey) at the Survey Office, the surveyor's fee and the District Surveyor's Report.This volume was also used to record applications made under Section 19 of the Land Act 1869 with the same details being completed. Application records controlled by this section of the register may be found in series relating to Sections 19 and 20 of the Land Act 1869 (see Inventory of Series for VA 538 Department of Crown Land and Survey).

1865年《修订土地法》第42条旨在允许在淘金场（goldfields）范围内或毗邻淘金场的土地被用于惠及普通民众，同时不干扰矿工的作业。该土地占用需以适度租金租赁，期限为临时性质，仅可用于居住与耕种。每份土地占用许可证（licence）最多可覆盖20英亩土地，有效期不超过1年，但个人可申请多份许可证。租金需上缴至税收管理员（Receivers of Revenue）或出纳员（Paymasters），收费标准为：占地不足10英亩者，年租金2英镑10先令；占地10至20英亩者，年租金4英镑。许可证持有人需进行可识别的土地改造：圈定其占用地块，并按规定比例耕种该区域，以证明其占用的诚信（bona fides）。
根据1869年《土地法》，持有1865年《修订土地法》第42条项下许可证的持有人可继续保留其许可证。若个人持有多份该类许可证，在依据1869年《土地法》第19条提出申请时，还可将多份许可证合并。1869年《土地法》第19条允许总督授权颁发国有土地（Crown land）占用许可证，单份许可证覆盖面积不超过320英亩，有效期不超过3年，年费为每英亩2先令。根据第20条规定，许可证持有人必须亲自占用土地，需在两年内完成土地改造，且年费需每半年缴纳一次。若满足上述条件，可申请更长期限的租赁（最长可达7年），出租人后续可购买该土地。
根据1869年《土地法》第49条，土地甄选申请人可申请占用并耕种含金（auriferous）土地，即淘金场土地。该许可证有效期为1年，占地规模不得超过20英亩，缴纳许可证费后可每年续期。根据1869年《土地法》第49条，一名申请人仅可持有一份该类许可证。
本系列中的申请登记簿由邓诺利（Dunolly）土地办公室保管，用于登记各类土地占用申请并记录申请详情。申请获批后，该登记簿将被转交至墨尔本。当申请文件送达墨尔本后，将被录入VPRS 13034/P1《各区申请登记簿》（1865年《土地法》第42条）或1869年《土地法》第19、49条对应的申请登记簿。
地区测量员（District Surveyor）办公室会为申请分配连续编号。标准登记簿中预留了部门编号的填写位置，部分条目包含年份、编号与字母后缀。在启用年份编码规则之前，此类编号最初以通信编号形式登记。登记簿中记录的其他详情包括申请人姓名、地址与教区、申请的地块与区段、土地描述及占地面积。相邻页面的详情则涉及调查与报告流程，栏目包含测量员身份、任命日期、测量报告送达测量办公室的日期、测量员费用及地区测量员报告。
本登记簿亦可用于记录依据1869年《土地法》第19条提出的申请，需填写相同的申请详情。由本登记簿管控的申请记录，可在1869年《土地法》第19、20条相关系列档案中查阅（详见VA 538王室土地与测量部（Department of Crown Land and Survey）档案系列清单）。