VPRS 13524 Register of Applications, Bairnsdale, Section 29 Land Act 1898 and Section 35 Land Act 1901 (Bairnsdale District Survey Office)

This series was created by the District Survey Office at Bairnsdale. It is duplicated by Register of Applications, Bairnsdale, Section 29 Land Act 1898 and Section 35 Land Act 1901 (Occupation Branch) (VPRS 13523) which is the register created by the 'Bairnsdale District Office' at the Occupation Branch.VPRS 13524 / P1 was previously registered as Unit 36 of VPRS 455 / P Application Registers, Land Act 1898.Section 29 of the Land Act 1898 (later Section 35 under the consolidated Land Act 1901) succeeded Section 32, Land Act 1884 as the means whereby grazing areas could be leased from the Crown. Land was able to be leased for any term until 29 December 1920 when the land would revert to the Crown. Land was divided into classes for the purpose of the lease. Two hundred acres of first-class land might be leased, 640 acres of second-class land, 1280 acres of third-class land and 1920 acres of fourth-class land. A permanent agricultural allotment could be selected from leaseholds of first and second-class land and a grazing allotment from third and fourth-class land.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 29 of the Land Act 1898 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 29 of the Land Act 1898 was registered as application number 324 then the selection or occupation file number would be 324/29.The application number remained the selection file number for a particular piece of land if all terms and conditions were met. 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.

本系列档案由贝恩斯代尔（Bairnsdale）地区测绘办公室编制。该档案的副本为贝恩斯代尔地区1898年《土地法》第29条及1901年《土地法》第35条（职业分支（Occupation Branch））项下的申请登记册（VPRS 13523），该登记册由职业分支的贝恩斯代尔地区办公室编制。VPRS 13524/P1 原登记为1898年《土地法》项下VPRS 455/P申请登记册第36组。1898年《土地法》第29条（后在1901年合并版《土地法》中调整为第35条）取代了1884年《土地法》第32条，成为从王室租赁放牧用地的法定依据。此前土地租赁期限可任意设定，直至1920年12月29日，届时土地将归还王室。租赁土地按等级划分：一等土地可租赁200英亩，二等640英亩，三等1280英亩，四等1920英亩。申请人可从一、二等土地的租赁权中申请永久农业用地，从三、四等土地中申请放牧用地。当部门收到王室土地租赁申请后，会将其登记至申请登记册。申请登记册内容按字母顺序排列，申请编号按字母表顺序分块连续分配。通常会根据《土地法》中可用于土地申请的不同条款分别设立申请登记册。例如，所有1898年《土地法》第29条项下的申请均登记于同一登记册；而较为冷门的法案条款，则通常将其申请合并登记于同一登记册。为规范王室土地管理流程，在助理测量总监H·拜伦·摩尔（H Byron Moore）的推动下，部门于1874年设立职业分支（Occupation Branch），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、巴拉瑞特、比奇沃斯、贝纳拉、卡斯尔梅因与杜诺利、伊丘卡、吉隆-瓦南布尔与坎珀当、哈密尔顿、霍舍姆、墨尔本、塞尔与贝恩斯代尔、桑德赫斯特（本迪戈）、西摩与圣阿尔诺。每个辖区在墨尔本的职业分支均设有对应的地区土地办公室（District Land Office）。每个地区土地办公室均配备双人办公桌，供办事员与绘图员协同办公，文件、地图与规划图等资料均放置于随手可取之处。同一批工作人员全程负责王室土地出让的从受理到最终处置全流程。地区土地办公室的人员配置最初仅为一名办事员与一名绘图员，专门负责对应辖区的土地事务，其核心职责为熟悉辖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至包含地区主管、租金办事员、绘图员及多名普通办事员的编制。1874年职业分支设立并完成辖区划分后，申请按辖区进行登记。每个地区土地办公室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，均登记于对应辖区的专属登记册，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，例如巴拉瑞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，才是唯一的档案标识符。申请人需在地区测绘办公室填写申请表格。多数土地辖区均设有地区测绘办公室，地区测量员会将申请人信息登记于该办公室保管的申请登记册，并为每位申请人分配申请编号。申请编号会标注在土地租赁申请上，若申请获批，该编号将随即成为申请人的土地租赁档案编号。地区测量员需在申请登记册中录入以下信息：申请编号、申请接收日期、申请人姓名、职业与教区、申请的地块编号及面积（英亩、路得与杆）。随后，申请材料将被转交至墨尔本职业分支对应的地区土地办公室，并以相同的申请编号登记至当地的申请副本登记册。同时，地区测量员还需一并转交申请地块的绘图描件。申请地块的位置会立即以铅笔绘制在工作规划图上。随后，绘图描件将被送交矿产与供水部（Department of Mines and Water Supply, VA 2720），以获取是否存在矿业异议的评估报告。若无矿业异议，申请将提交至地方土地委员会（Local Land Board）进行听证。地方土地委员会由当地社区代表与王室土地与测绘部（Department of Crown Lands and Survey, VA 538）的代表共同组成，委员会将听取所有地块申请人的陈述，并裁定获批租赁许可或租约的人选。记录地方土地委员会决议的清单将被转交至墨尔本职业分支对应的地区土地办公室，并将决议内容录入申请登记册。作为王室土地管理的法定主管机构，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建议，对土地租赁申请作出最终审批。审批结果将被录入申请登记册，登记册同时会记录许可或租约的签发日期，以及该档案后续的所有相关操作。获批地块的租赁人信息将由职业分支地区土地办公室的绘图员标注于工作规划图上。随后，地块绘图描件将被送交负责对应辖区的王室土地执行官。申请登记册管控着租赁与占用档案。若王室土地租赁申请获批，申请编号将直接转为档案编号。例如，若1898年《土地法》第29条项下的租赁申请登记编号为324，则该租赁或占用档案的编号为324/29。若申请人满足所有条款与条件，该申请编号将持续作为对应地块的租赁档案编号。许多租赁人会因违约或主动放弃而丧失租赁许可或租约，此时该地块将重新开放租赁申请。新申请人需以全新的申请编号登记至申请登记册，原申请人的档案将附于新申请人的档案之后，登记册中会在原申请人的条目旁标注新档案编号。即便原租赁人就其此前已丧失的地块再次申请租赁许可，仍需分配新的申请编号，该档案也将拥有全新的租赁档案编号。