Public Record Office Victoria online catalogue

Series VPRS 440

Land Selection and Occupation Files

Date Range:	Series	1869 - 1958
	Series in Custody	1869 - Circa 1951
	Contents	1869 - Circa 1951

Public Access:	Open
Location:	North Melbourne

Format of Records:

Physical

Agency which created this SeriesAgency which created this Series

Display entries per page

Date Range

Agency Title

Agency Number

1869 - 1958

Department of Crown Lands and Survey

VA 538

Agency currently responsible for this SeriesAgency currently responsible for this Series

Display entries per page

Date Range

Agency Title

Agency Number

2013 - cont

Office of the Registrar-General and the Office of Titles, (known as Land Victoria 2001 to 2014; Land Use Victoria 2014 - ct.)

VA 862

Description of this SeriesDescription of this Series

How to use the Records
Researchers need to have either a specific file number or details of parish/township, allotment and section number to use VPRS 440 Land Selection and Occupation Files.

If the file number is known consult the Records Description List for VPRS 440 Land Selection and Occupation Files to find the unit containing the file required.

If the file number is not known use Microfiche Catalogue to Crown Lands and Survey Files: Parish and Township Order (VPRS 7312). The catalogue is arranged by township and parish. Find the appropriate township or parish then the appropriate allotment and section number. The selection or occupation file number will be recorded on the catalogue, you can then consult the VPRS 440 Land Selection and Occupation Files to find the unit containing the file required.
Function / Content
VPRS 440 Land Selection and Occupation Files contains a combination of both selection and occupation files relating to legislation between 1869 and 1958.

Selection Files

Selection files are files of leases or licences that terminated in the issue of a Crown Grant to the occupants. The files document the occupation and improvement to land prior to its alienation (sale). For example, details of leases and licences, selection number, name of lessee, surveyors reports and correspondence. All selection files end with a Deed of Grant.

Occupation Files

Occupation files can be divided into two file types,
1.temporary occupancies - annually re-newable tenure with no right to purchase.
2. long term occupancies that were guaranteed long term tenure without the right to freehold. The files document the occupation and improvement to land. For example, details of leases and licences, selection number, name of lessee, surveyors reports and correspondence. They do not end with a Deed of Grant.
Recordkeeping System
Selection file numbers are fractional numbers, the denominator being the section of the Land Act that the land was selected under and the numerator being the successive number in its class. For example file 35/49 is the 35th file created for land selected under the 49th section of the Land Act. File numbers can be repeated across districts and it is the district name along with the file number that is the unique identifier. Selection file numbers can be obtained from parish plans. A parish plan shows each allotment for the parish. The plans record the name of the grantee, date of grant, the area and the allotment number.

Occupation file numbers have the same format as selection file numbers but they were not recorded on parish plans, only on working plans. Working plans were administered by regional offices, they record details of all occupation files (other than selection files) including early Crown reserves and other administrative details. Many of these working plans were destroyed, damaged or mislaid due to the lack of importance placed upon them by the Department. Without these plans an index has been lost to many occupation files.

Occupation files were also often arranged by a correspondence file number as the sections of the Act that the land was occupied under was often changing as were the occupiers of the land.

The files in VPRS 440 Land Selection and Occupation Files are arranged consecutively in sequential file number (numerator) order within each Land District irrespective of the section of the Act they were selected under. The Land Districts are usually noted at the top of each folio and are arranged alphabetically. For example Alexandra boxes 1-20, Ararat boxes 21-125, Bairnsdale boxes 126-151. Boxes 1920-1922 contain files from a miscellaneous range of districts.

VPRS 440 Land Selection and Occupation Files seems to be the left-over land selection and occupation files that have not been included in VPRS 624, 625, 626, 627, 629, 439 831, 832, 833, 853 & 835 and 5357. None of the file sequences within each district are complete (as with 5357), and sequences from some districts are very sparse. When the files were transferred from the Department in an extremely confused condition they were arranged by the PROV as they had been dealt with by the Department, that is by numerical sequence within each Land District. For convenience sake the legislation, ie the file number denominator, was ignored.

A P1 consignment was created in January 2004, consisting of an estray.

A P2 consignment was created in October 2007. VPRS 440/P0 units 655A and 657A are now VPRS 440/P2 units 1 and 2 respectively.