VPRS 15605 Licenses Issued under Section 42 Amending Land Act 1865

This series consists of licenses to occupy land in auriferous areas, correspondence and receipts issued under Section 42 Amending Land Act 1865. It is thought that the actual licenses in this series may have been those forfeited by the holders and then returned to the Department of Crown Lands and Survey. Each license (available for up to 20 acres) has the details of the name and address of the holder, the amount, place and date of payment f the fee, the conditions attached to such a license to occupy land and the details of the size and location of the land with a scale plan. A number of holders held multiple licenses as allowed under the terms of the Amending Land Act 1865.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.As this land had already been surveyed for mining purposes and to determine the extent of the auriferous (or gold-bearing) lands, applications could be ruled upon efficiently and expeditiously. An application under this section of the Act was able to be submitted to either the Department of Crown Lands and Survey in Melbourne or at the District Land Office (see VRG 27). Some 36 land offices were established throughout the Colony to deal with applications received under this Act. The application would be registered in an Applications Register and allocated a number in order of receipt. Those applications for All Districts received at Melbourne were then indexed by name of applicant and the allocated number. The application was then investigated and reported upon by a local commission.The functions of this Commission were to investigate and report upon every application, to protect the public and local interests and promote the advantageous occupation of land. Commissions included in their membership the Surveyor-General, the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Survey, the Secretary for Mines, chairmen and members of Mining Boards and Shire Council and were assisted by District Surveyors, other officers of the Department and Mining Surveyors who had made the surveys of the sites applied for. These Commissions or enquiries were made in district centres and other principal centres of population on and in the vicinity of the goldfields. The decision with respect to the application arrived at by the Commission was then entered in the Applications Register. For District Registers, it became the practice to register and arrange applications with them directly relating to specific sittings of the Commission at a specific place on a specific date.With the granting of the application, application then had to be made to the Governor-in-Council, as prescribed in the Act, to grant a licence of occupation to the successful applicant. In the same way, cancellations and / or revocations of licences and transfers of licences had to be approved by the Governor-in-Council. Some of these records may be seen in VPRS 863 Orders in Council Regarding the Issue and Cancellation of Licences , Land Acts 1865 and 1869.Once this leave had been granted by the Governor-in-Council, the licence was issued and an entry was then made in the Licence Register. These registers were arranged firstly by district or group of contiguous districts and then in alphabetical sections according to family name of the licensee. The Licence Register provided a record of the number of the licence issued (different to the application number), the location and size of the land, the payment of rents and, in the remarks column, the subsequent history of that holding of land and of the licence to occupy it.At some point after the granting of the application, a file was created upon which were placed the original application and other subsequent correspondence with respect to it. These files have also been allocated sequential numbers (see VPRS 624 Land Selection Files, Land Act 1865). The numbers on these files do not coincide with any other number allocated during the application or the licensing processes at either the District or central levels. It is hypothesized that there has been created at some point a register to these files and their numbers which is not (as at July 2002) in custody.In August 1868, additional regulations were made under Section 42 of the Amending Land Act of 1865. These regulations extended the distance from a goldfield within which selections might be made to thirty miles and authorised the issue of eight licences per person thus allowing each selector to obtain 160 acres. Applications were able to be made once again at both District Offices and the Central Office. Land had been surveyed in preparation and Commissions were held immediately upon the Regulations coming into operation to decide upon these applications. Records in custody show that these applications were kept separately in Applications Registers, although, once licences were granted, they were entered into the existing Licence Registers.From the Licence Registers, it is apparent that much of the land selected and occupied under Section 42 of the Amending Land Act 1865 was either purchased under Section 31 of the Land Act 1869 or converted to leases under section 19 of the Land Act 1869. Other selections were able to be purchased at public auction, whilst others remained under the occupation of licensees for a lengthy period of time with licences able to be transferred or bequeathed.

本系列档案包含产金区土地占用许可、依据1865年《土地修订法令》（Amending Land Act 1865）第42条出具的函件与收据。据推测，本系列中的实际许可可能曾由持证人作废，随后返还至王室土地与测量局（Department of Crown Lands and Survey）。

每份许可（最多可占用20英亩土地）均包含以下信息：持证人姓名与地址、费用金额、缴费地点与缴费日期、土地占用许可附带的条款，以及附有比例平面图（scale plan）的土地面积与位置详情。依据1865年《土地修订法令》的条款，部分持证人可持有多份许可。

1865年《土地修订法令》第42条旨在允许普通民众使用金矿场内或毗邻金矿场的土地，同时不干扰矿工的作业活动。土地占用需以适度租金租赁，期限为临时性质，仅可用于居住与耕作。每份许可最多可覆盖20英亩土地，有效期不超过一年，但个人可申请多份许可。租金需缴纳给税收专员（Receivers of Revenue）或出纳员（Paymasters），费率固定如下：占地不足10英亩者，每年需缴纳2英镑10先令；占地10至20英亩者，每年需缴纳4英镑。持证人需开展可识别的改良工作——圈定其分配地块，并按规定比例耕作该区域，以证明其使用土地的善意（bona fides）。

由于该土地已为矿业用途及确定产金（auriferous，含金）区域范围完成测量，因此申请可得到高效且迅速的审批。依据本法令本条提出的申请，可提交至墨尔本的王室土地与测量局（Department of Crown Lands and Survey），或提交至地区土地办事处（District Land Office，详见VRG 27）。该殖民地全境共设立了约36个土地办事处，用于处理依据本法令提交的申请。

申请将被登记至申请登记簿（Applications Register），并按接收顺序分配编号。在墨尔本接收的来自所有地区的申请，将按申请人姓名与分配编号编制索引。随后，当地委员会将对申请进行调查并出具报告。该委员会的职能包括：对每项申请进行调查并出具报告，保护公众与当地利益，推动土地的有益占用。委员会成员包含测量总长（Surveyor-General）、土地与测量助理专员（Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Survey）、矿业秘书（Secretary for Mines）、矿业委员会（Mining Boards）主席与成员以及郡议会（Shire Council）成员，并由地区测量员（District Surveyors）、该局其他官员以及对申请地块完成测量的矿业测量员（Mining Surveyors）提供协助。此类委员会或调查工作会在金矿场内及周边的地区中心与其他主要人口中心开展。

委员会就申请作出的决定随后将被登记至申请登记簿。对于地区登记簿而言，通常会将与特定日期、特定地点举行的委员会特定会议直接相关的申请进行登记与整理。

申请获批后，还需依据法令规定向总督会同行政会议（Governor-in-Council）提出申请，为成功申请人颁发土地占用许可。同理，许可的注销/撤销与转让也需经总督会同行政会议批准。此类部分记录可查阅于VPRS 863《关于许可颁发与注销的枢密院令（1865年及1869年土地法令）》。

总督会同行政会议批准该项许可后，将颁发许可，并在许可登记簿（Licence Register）中进行登记。此类登记簿首先按地区或连片地区群组分类，随后按持证人姓氏的字母顺序划分区段。许可登记簿会记录已颁发的许可编号（与申请编号不同）、土地位置与面积、租金缴纳情况，以及备注栏中记录的该地块占用及土地占用许可的后续历史。

在申请获批后的某个节点，会创建一份档案，其中包含原始申请及后续相关的所有函件。此类档案也会被分配连续编号（详见VPRS 624《1865年土地法令土地选择档案》（Land Selection Files, Land Act 1865））。档案编号与地区或中央层面的申请或许可流程中分配的任何其他编号均不相同。据推测，曾为这些档案及其编号编制过一份登记簿，但截至2002年7月，该登记簿并未被留存。

1868年8月，依据1865年《土地修订法令》第42条制定了补充条例。该条例将可进行地块选择的金矿场周边距离扩大至30英里，并授权每人最多可颁发8份许可，使每位选地者最多可获得160英亩土地。申请人仍可向地区办事处与中央办事处提交申请。相关土地已提前完成测量，条例生效后随即召开委员会会议审批此类申请。现存记录显示，此类申请被单独登记于申请登记簿中，但许可获批后，会将其录入现有的许可登记簿。

从许可登记簿中可以看出，依据1865年《土地修订法令》第42条选定并占用的大部分土地，要么依据1869年《土地法令》第31条被收购，要么依据1869年《土地法令》第19条转为租赁用地。其余选定地块可通过公开拍卖购得，另有部分地块长期由持证人占用，许可可进行转让或遗赠。