VPRS 13523 Register of Applications, Bairnsdale, Section 29 Land Act 1898 and Section 35 Land Act 1901 (Occupation Branch)

This series was created by the 'Bairnsdale District Office' at the Occupation Branch of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538). It is duplicated by Register of Applications, Bairnsdale, Section 29 Land Act 1898 and Section 35 Land Act 1901(VPRS 13524) which is the register created by the District Survey Office in Bairnsdale.VPRS 13523 / P1 was previously registered as Unit 29 of VPRS 458 / P Application Registers, Land Act Unknown.VPRS 13523 / P2 was previously registered as Unit 26 of VPRS 458 / P Applications Registers, Land Act Unknown.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 324/98.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.

本系列档案由土地与测量署（VA 538）土地占用管理分部的贝恩斯代尔地区办事处编制。该系列档案的副本留存于《贝恩斯代尔申请登记册》，对应1898年《土地法》第29条及1901年《土地法》第35条（VPRS 13524），该登记册由贝恩斯代尔地区测量署编制。VPRS 13523 / P1原登记为VPRS 458 / P申请登记册第29组，未注明适用《土地法》条款；VPRS 13523 / P2原登记为VPRS 458 / P申请登记册第26组，未注明适用《土地法》条款。

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1884年《土地法》第32条，成为王室放牧用地租赁的法定依据。1920年12月29日前，土地可按任意租期租赁，期满后土地归还王室。租赁土地按等级划分：一等土地可租赁200英亩，二等土地640英亩，三等土地1280英亩，四等土地1920英亩。申请人可从一、二等土地租赁保有地中选取永久农业用地，从三、四等土地中选取放牧用地。

当土地与测量署收到王室土地选租申请后，会将其登记至申请登记册。申请登记册按申请人姓名首字母排序，并按字母段连续分配申请编号。通常会针对每一条土地申请法条单独编制申请登记册，例如所有依据1898年《土地法》第29条提交的申请均记录于同一登记册。但较为冷门的法条对应的申请，通常会合并记录于同一登记册。

为优化王室土地管理流程，1874年在助理测量总监H·拜伦·摩尔的推动下，土地占用管理分部正式成立，负责处理所有与王室土地占用相关的事务。维多利亚州被划分为15个土地辖区，分别为：阿拉拉特、巴拉瑞特、比奇沃思、贝纳拉、卡斯特梅因与杜诺利、伊丘卡、吉隆-瓦南布尔与坎珀当、汉密尔顿、霍舍姆、墨尔本、塞尔与贝恩斯代尔、桑德赫斯特（本迪戈）、西摩与圣阿诺德。每个辖区在墨尔本的土地占用管理分部均设有"地区土地办事处"作为对接窗口。

每个地区土地办事处设有双人办公桌，办事员与绘图员在此协同办公，各类档案、地图与图纸均放置于随手可取的位置。同一批工作人员负责从王室土地出让立项到最终处置的全流程业务。地区土地办事处的核心人员为办事员与绘图员，专属负责对应土地辖区的业务，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的编制已扩充为：地区主管、租金办事员、绘图员及若干普通办事员。

1874年土地占用管理分部成立并完成辖区划分后，申请按辖区进行登记。每个"地区土地办事处"自行编制并维护其专属的申请登记册。1874年后收到的所有新申请，均按从1号开始的顺序分配编号并登记至对应辖区的登记册。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，辖区名称与附带的文件编号共同构成唯一标识符。

申请人需在地区测量办事处填写申请表格。大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登记至办事处留存的申请登记册，并为每位申请人分配申请编号。该申请编号会标注在选租申请文件上，若申请获批，则该编号将成为其土地选租档案号。

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、职业与所属教区、申请地块编号与面积（英亩、路得、平方杆）。随后，申请文件将被转交至墨尔本土地占用管理分部对应的地区土地办事处，该处会将申请信息登记至副本登记册，使用相同的申请编号。同时，地区测量员还需转交申请地块的描图。

申请地块的位置会立即以铅笔标注在工作草图上。随后，描图会被送至矿产与供水署（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进行听证。地方土地委员会由当地社区代表与土地与测量署（VA 538）工作人员共同组成，委员会会听取所有地块申请人的陈述，并裁定谁将获得许可或租赁权。记录地方土地委员会裁定结果的清单会被转交至墨尔本土地占用管理分部对应的地区土地办事处，裁定结果会被登记至申请登记册。

土地与工程委员会（VA 744）作为王室土地管理的法定主管机构，会依据地方土地委员会的推荐做出最终审批。土地与工程委员会（VA 744）的裁定结果同样会被记录至申请登记册。登记册还会记录许可证或租赁协议的签发日期，以及该档案后续的所有相关操作。获批选租地块的申请人信息，会由墨尔本土地占用管理分部地区土地办事处的绘图员标注至工作草图。随后，地块描图会被转交至对应土地辖区的王室土地执行官。

申请登记册管控选租与占用档案。若王室土地选租申请获批，申请编号将成为档案号。例如，若依据1898年《土地法》第29条提交的选租申请登记编号为324，则该选租或占用档案号为324/98。若申请人满足所有条款与条件，该申请编号将始终作为对应地块的选租档案号。许多申请人会因违约或主动放弃其许可或租赁权。若出现此类情况，该土地将重新开放供选租。新申请人需提交新申请并分配新的申请编号，原申请人的档案会被附至新申请人的档案中。原申请条目在登记册中的对应位置会标注新档案编号。即便同一申请人就其此前违约的土地再次申请许可，仍需分配新的申请编号，档案也将拥有新的选租档案号。