- Historical overview
- A Select List of Sources
- Chief Commissioner
- Commissioner of Crown Lands — Armidale (New England)
- Commissioner of Crown Lands — Darling Downs
- Commissioner of Crown Lands — Gippsland
- Commissioner of Crown Lands — Gwydir
- Commissioner of Crown Lands — Lachlan District
- Commissioner of Crown Lands — Liverpool Plains (Tamworth)
- Commissioner of Crown Lands — McLeay River
- Commissioner of Crown Lands — Portland Bay
- Related series
A brief overview of the major sources we hold that relate to the main records of the Commissioners of Crown lands and key related series.
Historical overview
By a Government order on 5 September 1826 Governor Darling created an area known as the 'limits of location'. Settlers were only allowed to take up land within this area. A further Government order on 14 October 1829 increased this area of approved settlement to include an area called the Nineteen Counties.
From the earliest days of the Colony there was some unauthorised occupation of Crown Lands both within and outside the 'limits of location' and outside the Nineteen Counties. Various acts and regulations were in operation from as early as 1824 in an attempt to curb this type of settlement, which we often refer to as squatting. As a result of these legislative measures, such authorised occupations as grazing leases and depasturing licences were introduced to regularise settlement on Crown Land.
Commissioners of Crown lands were first appointed under the provisions of Act 7 Will. IV no.4 (1836). The Commissioners of Crown Lands were the sole officials of Government in areas outside the settled districts and as such they had magisterial authority.
The Commissioners were responsible for preventing Crown Land being occupied without a licence, collecting the proceeds of the assessment on stock, and ensuring that law and order were maintained throughout their districts. They were also responsible for issuing passports for convict travel and for 'arranging the transfer of convicts from their own districts to places elsewhere; for the reservation of sites for public purposes; for the granting of hawkers' licences; and for the compilation of a great variety of returns and reports.' [1]
Under the 1836 Act licences were issued to depasture sheep and cattle on unoccupied Crown lands and Commissioners policed these regulations.
Legislation in 1839 (2 Vic. no.27) established a Border Police under the control of the various Commissioners.
Orders in Council of 1847, issued under the authority of the Imperial Act 9 and 10 Vic. c.104 (1847), provided for leases to be issued for periods up to fourteen years in place of the annual licences. In 1849 a Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands was appointed and local Commissioners were made directly responsible to the Chief Commissioner instead of the Colonial Secretary as was originally the case. The office of the Chief Commissioner was transferred to the Department of Lands in 1856 and the Crown Lands Occupation Act 1861 repealed the Orders in Council of 1847 in relation to the lease and alienation of Crown lands in the pasture districts.
In 1870 the office of the Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands lapsed and the department became known as the Occupation Branch of the Lands Department. Control of the local Crown Lands Commissioners was transferred to the Department of Mines in 1878 and the local Crown Land Commissioners were abolished about 1880. Records of the Occupation of Lands Branch of the Department of Mines were destroyed in the Garden Palace Fire on 22 September 1882.
A Select List of Sources
Chief Commissioner
| Series | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| NRS 1351 |
Letters received from the Colonial Secretary |
1854-1855 |
| NRS 1352 |
Letters received from Commissioners |
1850-1862 |
| NRS 1353 |
Letters received from individuals |
1854-1855 |
| NRS 1356 |
Papers re pre-emptive purchases Gives names of district and lessee; name and size of run; amount of purchase money and of survey fee; and date of payment. |
1856-1857 |
|
(Reel 1441) |
Registers of accepted tenders for runs These volumes include information as to lessee, district, station and estimated capabilities of station (cattle and sheep). |
1848-1857 |
Commissioner of Crown Lands — Armidale (New England)
| Series | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|
|
(Reel 2677) |
Copies of letters sent This series includes letters about prisoners, land and timber; letters to Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands, Colonial Treasurer and other public officials. |
1844-1855 |
|
(Reel 3127) |
Description of runs | c.1851 |
|
(Reels 2677, 1483) |
Returns of population and livestock The returns show names of station and of licensee; estimated area by acres; number of horses, cows and sheep; and amount of assessment based on that number. |
1845-1856, 1848-1856 |
|
(Reel 1483) |
Register of timber licences This series shows name of licensee; nature of wood to be cut; amount of fee; date of forwarding fee to the Treasury and of delivering the licence; and acknowledgment of receipt of such licence. |
1850-1855 |
|
(Reel 1483) |
Returns of licensed occupants | 1851-1856 |
|
(Reel 1482) |
Register of licensed runs | 1857-1866 |
|
(Reel 1482) |
Register of licensed runs (McLeay District) | 1857 |
|
(Reel 1482) |
Lists of runs in New England and McLeay Districts |
1866 |
|
(Reel 1481) |
Register of land sales held at Armidale Police Office | 1850-1856 |
Commissioner of Crown Lands — Darling Downs
| Series | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|
|
[ML A1764-2] |
Copies of letters sent | 1843-1848 |
|
[ML A1764-1] |
Returns of persons occupying Crown lands and description of runs | 1845-1852 |
Commissioner of Crown Lands — Gippsland
| Series | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|
|
(Reel 3127) |
Lists of runs assessed These comprise detailed lists of stock on various stations in the district of Gippsland, which was beyond the limits of location. |
1843-1862 |
Commissioner of Crown Lands — Gwydir
| Series | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| NRS 1376 | Letters received | 1843-1871 |
|
(Reels 3123-3124) |
Copies of letters sent to the Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands These letters include requests for information and assistance; and reports on Aboriginal people and the goldfields. |
1849-1856 |
|
(Reel 3124) |
Copies of letters sent to individuals and public officers | 1853-1868 |
|
(Reel 3123) |
Descriptions of runs The descriptions were submitted in support of tenders for runs. They give name and address of tenderer; name of run; acreage; estimated grazing capabilities; and a brief description of its boundaries. |
1843-1869 |
Commissioner of Crown Lands — Lachlan District
| Series | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| NRS 1382 |
Copies of letters sent The letters concern the appraisement of runs, disputes over boundaries between runs, and the acceptance of tenders for runs. |
Jun 1864-Dec 1866 |
| NRS 1383 |
Descriptions of runs The descriptions were submitted in support of tenders of runs. They give name of lessee, estimated area of the run and detailed description of its boundaries. Changes of ownership of the runs are also shown and there are notations in the volumes up to 1884. |
c.1869-1879 |
Commissioner of Crown Lands — Liverpool Plains (Tamworth)
| Series | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Letters received | 1843-1847 | |
|
(Reels 3125-3127) |
Copies of letters sent | 1846-1869 |
|
(Reel 1483) |
Returns of population and livestock The returns show names of station, owner and superintendent; extent and area of run; how watered; number of free and bonded persons on run; number of horses, cows and sheep; and amount of assessment. |
1845-1857 |
|
(Reel 1483) |
Alphabetical lists of individuals recommended as fit and proper persons to depasture stock upon stations in the district | 1845-1848 |
|
(Reel 1483) |
Returns of licensed occupiers of Crown lands | 1847-1851 |
|
(Reel 1483) |
List of parties recommended as fit and proper persons to cut and saw yellow woods in the district during the year ended 30 June 1848 This list shows name of person recommended, whether free or not, and location of the wood. |
1848 |
Commissioner of Crown Lands — McLeay River
(For later records see Armidale — New England)
| Series | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|
|
(Reel 2500) |
Copies of letters sent | 5 Sep 1842-14 Apr 1848 |
Commissioner of Crown Lands — Portland Bay
| Series | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|
|
(Reel 2756) |
Itineraries of Commissioner Foster Fyans, 1844, Jan-Jun 1846; and Returns of population and livestock The returns of population and livestock include names of station, owner and superintendent; extent and area of run. |
Jan 1844-Jan 1846 |
Related series
| Series | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| NRS 906 |
Colonial Secretary: Special Bundles
The itineries and returns are indexed online » Bathurst
Bligh
Clarence River
Darling Downs
Gippsland
Lachlan
Liverpool Plains
McLeay River
Monaroo
Moreton Bay
Murrumbidgee
Murray
New England
Port Macquarie
Port Phillip
Portland Bay
See also NRS 1391, Fyans' Itineraries 1844, Jan - Jun 1846; and Returns of population and livestock, Jan 1844 - Jan 1846, [X690-91], Reel 2756. Wellington
Western Port (Victoria)
|
1826-1982 |
|
(Reel 2980-2981) |
Colonial Secretary - Letters sent. Copies of letters to the Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands | 29 Dec 1848-12 Nov 1856 |
| NRS 958 |
Colonial Secretary - Letters sent. Copies of letters to Commissioners of Crown Lands The letters illustrate some of the difficulties facing the government in the administration of the scheme. |
1834-1847 |
|
(Reel 2997) |
Colonial Secretary - Letters sent. Copies of letters to Commissioners of Crown Lands within the boundaries | 17 Mar 1849-21 Oct 1856 |
| NRS 13859 |
Surveyor General: Crown Plans Areas outside the 'limits of location' are shown on some maps. |
1792-1886 |
|
(Reels 5067-5081) |
Treasury (Revenue Branch): Certificates for depasturing licences *ARK Depasturing licences permitted settlers to graze stock on Crown Lands 'beyond the limits of location'. |
1837-1851 |
Further information
The Colonial Secretary's main series of letters received, NRS 905 should also be consulted for correspondence received from the Chief Commissioner and individual Commissioners of Crown Land. Additional records relating to the Commissioners of Lands may also be found under Surveyor General and Treasury in our catalogue.
Other records may be identified the Guide to records relating to the occupation of Crown Lands (Crown Lands Guide). The Public Record Office Victoria and the Queensland State Archives also hold a number of pre-separation records.
ML indicates that the record is held by the Mitchell Library (State Library of NSW).
[1] McMartin, Arthur. Public Servants and Patronage: The foundation and rise of the New South Wales Public Service, 1786-1859, Sydney University Press, Sydney, 1983, p.206
*ARK signifies that a copy of the record or guide is part of the Archives Resources Kit and is held by the community access points.
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Content in this Guide first appeared in Archives in Brief 60 - Commissioners of Crown Lands
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