VPRS 13404 Register of Applications, Omeo, Section 65 Land Acts 1884, 1890 and 1898 and Section 103 Land Act 1901 (Occupation Branch)

This series was created by the 'Omeo District Office' at the Occupation Branch of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538).VPRS 13404 / P1 was previously registered as Units 18 of VPRS 446 / P Application Registers, Land Act 1884.Sections of an Act that were less common were often recorded together in the one register. This was the case with a number of sections of the Land Act 1884. These sections remained in consolidations of the Land Act (1890 and 1901), but with a change in the section number. Other lesser sections were added and also entered in the same register from subsequent acts such as the Land Act 1891, Land Act 1898 and the Wattles Act 1890.Section 65 of the Land Act 1884 (and Section 103, Land Act 1901) provided for the annual licensing of auriferous (gold bearing) lands. Areas licensed were to be of no more than 20 acres with only one license being allowed for each individual. There was to be no sale of these lands. This section was amended by Section 90 of the Land Act 1898 providing for the appraisal of these lands. If the value of the land was appraised to be more than the rent already paid on them, the subsequent rental was to be no more than two shillings and sixpence per annum with no annual license fee.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.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 1021/65 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 65 of the Land Act 1884 was registered as application number 324 then the selection or occupation file number would be 324/65.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.

本数据集系列由王室土地与测量部（Department of Crown Lands and Survey）职业分支下辖的奥米奥地区办事处（Omeo District Office）创建，档案编号为VA 538。VPRS 13404 / P1原登记为VPRS 446 / P《1884年土地法》（Land Act 1884）申请登记册第18单元。

法案中较为小众的条款通常会被整合至同一本登记册中，《1884年土地法》的若干条款便是如此。这些条款在《1890年土地法》与《1901年土地法》的合并修订版本中得以保留，但条款编号发生了变更。后续出台的《1891年土地法》《1898年土地法》及《1890年金合欢种植法》（Wattles Act 1890）等法案新增了部分小众条款，并将其一并录入该登记册。

《1884年土地法》第65条（以及《1901年土地法》第103条）规定了含金土地的年度许可制度。获批许可的土地面积不得超过20英亩，且每位申请人仅可获得一份许可。此类土地不得进行买卖。1898年《土地法》第90条对该条款进行修订，新增了土地估值要求：若经估值的土地价值高于已缴租金，则后续年度租金不得超过2先令6便士，且无需缴纳年度许可费。

当王室土地选租申请提交至该部门后，会被录入申请登记册。申请登记册的内容按字母顺序排列，且针对字母表中的每个字母，申请编号会按批次连续分配。

为合理化王室土地管理流程，1874年在助理测量总长H·拜伦·摩尔（H Byron Moore）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个土地辖区，分别为：阿拉拉特、巴拉腊特、比奇沃斯、贝纳拉、卡斯尔梅恩与达诺利、伊丘卡、吉隆-瓦南布尔与坎珀当、哈密尔顿、霍舍姆、墨尔本、赛尔与拜恩斯代尔、桑德赫斯特（本迪戈）、西摩与圣阿尔诺。每个辖区均在墨尔本的职业分支设有地区土地办事处。

每个地区土地办事处配备一套双人办公桌，办事员与绘图员可在此协同办公。各类档案、地图与图纸均放置在随手可取的位置。同一批工作人员负责王室土地出让从发起直至最终处置的全流程事务。地区办事处的核心人员为办事员与绘图员，专门负责对应土地辖区的相关业务，他们需熟悉辖区情况并处理所有相关土地事务。至1877年，每个地区土地办事处已配备一名地区官员、一名租金办事员、一名绘图员及若干普通办事员。

1874年职业分支成立并将全州划分为土地辖区后，申请按辖区进行登记。每个地区土地办事处均创建并维护各自的申请登记册系列。1874年后部门收到的所有新申请，均录入单独的辖区登记册，申请编号从1开始连续分配。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1021/65。唯有结合辖区名称与附带的档案编号，方可构成唯一标识符。

申请人需在地区测量办事处填写申请表。多数土地辖区均设有地区测量办事处，地区测量员会将申请人信息录入保存在该办事处的申请登记册中，并为每位申请人分配申请编号。该申请编号会被标注在土地选租申请表上，若申请获批，该编号将成为后续土地选租档案的编号。

地区测量员需在申请登记册中记录以下信息：申请编号、申请接收日期、申请人姓名、职业与教区、申请的地块编号与面积（英亩、路得与平方杆）。随后申请表会被转发至墨尔本职业分支对应的地区土地办事处，该办事处会将申请信息以相同的申请编号录入副本登记册中。同时，地区测量员还需转发申请地块的勘绘图。

申请地块的位置会立即以铅笔绘制在工作平面图上。随后勘绘图会被送至矿产与供水部（Department of Mines and Water Supply，档案编号VA 2720），以获取是否存在采矿异议的评估报告。若无采矿异议，申请将提交至地方土地委员会进行审议。地方土地委员会由当地社区代表与王室土地与测量部（VA 538）的代表组成，委员会会听取所有地块申请人的陈述，并决定许可或租赁的授予对象。记录地方土地委员会决议的清单会被转发至墨尔本职业分支对应的地区土地办事处，决议内容会被录入申请登记册。

土地管理的法定主管机构土地工程委员会（Board of Land and Works，档案编号VA 744）会依据地方土地委员会的推荐，对土地选租申请作出最终批准。土地工程委员会（VA 744）的决议会被录入申请登记册。登记册还会记录许可或租赁的签发日期，以及该档案后续的所有相关动作。获得地块分配的土地选租人信息，会由墨尔本职业分支地区土地办事处的绘图员标注在工作平面图上。随后地块勘绘图会被送至负责对应土地辖区的王室土地执行官。

申请登记册管控着土地选租与占用档案。若王室土地选租申请获批，申请编号将成为档案编号。例如，若依据《1884年土地法》第65条提交的申请登记编号为324，则该土地选租或占用档案的编号为324/65。

若申请人满足所有条款与条件并成功获得王室土地授予，则该申请编号将作为对应地块的选租档案编号持续有效。但多数情况下，初始土地选租人并未最终拥有该土地。许多土地选租人会因违约或放弃许可/租赁而丧失资格。若出现此类情况，该土地将重新开放供选租。新申请人的信息会以新的申请编号录入申请登记册，原申请人的档案会被附至新申请人的档案中。登记册中会在原申请人的条目旁标注新的档案编号。

即便同一位土地选租人申请获取此前已被其放弃的土地许可，仍需分配新的申请编号，且该档案将拥有新的土地选租档案编号。