VPRS 13369 Register of Applications, Castlemaine , Section 32 Land Act 1884 (Occupation Branch)

VPRS 13369 Register of Applications, Castlemaine, Section 32 Land Act (Occupation Branch) was created by the 'Castlemaine District Office' at the Occupation Branch of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538). It is duplicated by Register of Applications, Castlemaine Section 32 Land Act 1884 (Castlemaine District Survey Office) (VPRS 13365) which is the register created by the District Survey Office in Castlemaine.Section 32 of the Land Act 1884 (as confirmed in the consolidated Land Act 1890) allowed for the leasing of Crown land for grazing purposes. Lands thus leased could not be purchased and were to revert to the Crown after the expiration of fourteen years. No person was to hold more than one lease and no one lease was to exceed 1000 acres. Land was to be appraised for the purpose of setting a rental of between twopence and fourpence per acre witth the right to levy an additional rental of five pounds per cent per annum based on the capital value of improvements made on the leasehold. Special conditions of occupation were to be the control of vermin and noxious weeds, to keep any improvements in repair, to fence the land and to not cut any timber. The Crown was able to resume the land at any time for certain specific purposes listed in the Act or if the lease conditions were not complied with or at the conclusion of the fourteen years with compensation to be paid to the lessee for any improvements made.An agricultural allotment of not more than 320 acres could be excised from such a leasehold under the same conditions as was set out in Section 42 of the Act. 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. A license to occupy would then be issued for land thus selected.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 32 of the Land Act 1884 were recorded in the same register. Sections of an Act that were less common were often recorded 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 position 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 issue 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.

维多利亚州公共记录办公室（Victorian Public Record Office, VPRS）编号13369的《卡斯尔梅因土地法第32条（占用分支）申请登记簿》，由王室土地与测量部（Department of Crown Lands and Survey）占用分支（VA 538）的卡斯尔梅因地区办公室编制。该登记簿另有副本为《1884年土地法第32条（卡斯尔梅因地区测量办公室）申请登记簿》（VPRS 13365），由卡斯尔梅因地区测量办公室编制。
1884年《土地法》第32条（经1890年合并版《土地法》确认）允许将皇家属地土地（Crown land）租赁用于放牧用途。此类租赁土地不得买卖，且需在14年租赁期满后归还王室。任何个人不得持有多于一份租赁合约，单份租赁地块面积不得超过1000英亩。土地需先进行估值，以确定每英亩2便士至4便士的租金标准，同时可依据租赁地块上改良工程的资本价值，每年征收5%的额外租金。占用需遵守特定条件：管控害虫与有害杂草、维护所有改良工程完好、围封土地且不得砍伐林木。王室可出于法案列明的特定目的、承租人违约情形，或在14年租赁期满时随时收回土地，届时需向承租人支付其土地改良部分的补偿款。
可依据该法第42条规定的同等条件，从上述租赁地块中划出不超过320英亩的农业分配地块。此前已依据旧土地法选定该面积土地的申请人，不适用本条款；此前选定面积不足320英亩的申请人，则可补足至320英亩，对补足后的土地核发占用许可证。
当部门收到皇家属地土地选定申请后，将其录入申请登记簿。申请登记簿内容按字母顺序编排，且按字母表顺序为每个字母段连续分配申请编号。通常会依据土地法中可用于土地选定申请的各条款，分别设立专属申请登记簿。例如，所有依据1884年《土地法》第32条提交的申请，均录入同一登记簿；使用频率较低的法案条款，则通常共用一份申请登记簿。
为优化皇家属地土地管理流程，在助理测量总监H·拜伦·摩尔（H Byron Moore）的推动下，部门于1874年设立占用分支，专门处理所有与皇家属地土地占用相关的事务。
全州被划分为15个土地分区，分别为：阿拉拉特、巴拉瑞特、比奇沃思、贝纳拉、卡斯尔梅因与达诺利、伊丘卡、吉隆-沃南布尔与坎珀当、汉密尔顿、霍舍姆、墨尔本、塞尔与拜恩斯代尔、桑德赫斯特（本迪戈）、西摩与圣阿诺德。每个分区在墨尔本的占用分支设有对应的“地区土地办公室”。
各地区土地办公室配有双人工作台，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于随手可取之处。相关工作人员全权负责皇家属地土地从受理到处置的全流程业务。早期地区办公室仅配备办事员与绘图员各一名，专门负责对应土地分区的事务，其核心职责为熟悉本分区情况并处理所有相关土地业务。至1877年，各地区土地办公室已增设地区官员、租金办事员及多名普通办事员，团队规模进一步扩大。
1874年占用分支设立且全州划分为土地分区后，申请按地区进行登记。各“地区土地办公室”自行创建并维护专属的申请登记簿序列。1874年后部门收到的所有新申请，均录入对应地区的专属登记簿，申请编号从1开始连续分配。不同土地分区可使用相同的申请编号，例如巴拉瑞特与本迪戈土地分区均可能存在申请编号1021/32。因此，唯一标识符应为地区名称搭配对应的文件编号。
申请人需在地区测量办公室填写申请表格。多数土地分区均设有地区测量办公室，地区测量员会将申请人信息录入保存在该办公室的申请登记簿，并为每位申请人分配申请编号。申请编号会标注在土地选定申请表上，若申请获批，该编号即成为该土地选定事项的文件编号。
地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、申请分配的地块编号及面积（英亩、路得、杆）。随后，申请材料将被转交至墨尔本占用分支对应的地区土地办公室，并以相同的申请编号录入该办公室的副本申请登记簿中。同时，地区测量员还需提交所申请地块的测绘描图。
所申请地块的位置需立即以铅笔标注在工作规划图上。随后，测绘描图将被送至矿业与供水部（Department of Mines and Water Supply, 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）人员共同组成，委员会将听取所有地块申请人的陈述，并裁定授予哪位申请人许可证或租赁权。记录地方土地委员会决议的清单将被转交至墨尔本占用分支对应的地区土地办公室，并将决议内容录入申请登记簿。
负责皇家属地土地管理的法定机构土地工程委员会（Board of Land and Works, VA 744）将依据地方土地委员会的推荐，对土地选定申请作出最终批准。土地工程委员会（VA 744）的决议将被录入申请登记簿，登记簿同时记录许可证或租赁权证的签发日期，以及该文件后续的所有相关操作。获得地块分配的选定申请人信息，将由墨尔本占用分支地区土地办公室的绘图员标注在工作规划图上。该地块的测绘描图随后将被送至负责对应土地分区的王室土地执行官。
申请登记簿管控所有土地选定与占用文件。若皇家属地土地选定申请获批，申请编号即成为该事项的文件编号。例如，若依据1884年《土地法》第42条提交的选定申请登记编号为324，则该土地选定或占用的文件编号为324/42。
若申请人满足所有条款条件且最终获得王室土地授予书，则该申请编号将持续作为对应地块的选定文件编号。但实际情况中，原选定申请人往往未能最终获得土地所有权，众多申请人因违约或主动放弃许可证/租赁权而丧失资格。在此情形下，该地块将重新开放供选定申请，新申请人将以新的申请编号录入申请登记簿，原申请人的文件将附至新选定申请人的文件中，并在登记簿中原申请人的条目旁标注新的文件编号。
即便原选定申请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，该事项也将拥有新的选定文件编号。