Full description
In 1867 the clerical branches of the Lands Department and the Survey Department were amalgamated so that correspondence formerly dealt with by the Surveyor General Department was now dealt with by the Ministerial, Miscellaneous, Roads and Alienation Branches of the Lands Department.(1)
The earliest correspondence stamped “Miscellaneous” appears in January 1867, plus indexes and registers to letters received, Parks registers, and copies of letters sent to other agencies, commencing from this date. A number of on-going matters preceding this date, but continued by the Miscellaneous Branch, includes a variety of departmental papers from the 1850s and early 1860s. In 1884 the Public Parks Act repealed the Public Parks Act 1854, replacing the previous management by Trustees appointed by the Governor (2), with administration of the Act transferred to the Minister for Lands. (3)
On 25 May 1928 administration of the Commons Regulation Act 1898, was transferred from the Minister for Agriculture to the Minister for Lands (4), and in November 1929 the Miscellaneous Branch was renamed the Parks and Reserves, Miscellaneous Branch. (5)
By June 1929, in the “Public Reservations” section of the Department of Lands Report, 40 new Trusts had been created and 33 existing Trusts had been revised under the provisions of the Commons Regulation Act.(6) In the Department of Lands Report for the year ending 30 June 1930, the responsibilities listed under “Public Reservations” includes numbers of reservations held, parks and recreation grounds, travelling stock and camping reserves, commons, dedications of Crown land for public purposes, creation and revision of Trusts, and transfer of sites to Shire or Municipal control (7), while the functions of the “Miscellaneous Section” are listed as disposal of snow lands, distribution of rabbit-proof wire netting, breeding of angora goats and rabbits, operations of Crown lands, construction of developmental roads, roads and access, deviations and re-alignments, map publications and sales, inquiries and searches, correspondence, land and valuation court, and staff. (8) In an earlier Department of Lands Report for 1928, these same functions are listed under the title “General”. (9)
In the Department of Lands Report for 1934 Trigonometrical operations, Board of Surveyors, Real Property Act survey investigation, small blocks for unemployed, and unemployment relief are listed as additional responsibilities of the “Miscellaneous section”. (10)
The name of the Parks and Reserves, Miscellaneous Branch appears to have varied over time. Although a listing for “Public Reservations” generally appears in the Department of Lands reports, these are only occasionally accompanied by a “Miscellaneous” description. By 1950, the Parks Branch was listed as an administrative branch of the Department of Lands (11), further defined as “Public Reservations – General”, with “Miscellaneous Parks and Recreation Reserves” included within the description. (12)
On 1 October 1967 the National Parks and Wildlife Act was proclaimed. (13) In the months preceding, an amalgamation of staff formerly attached to the Fauna Protection Panel and the Parks and Reserves Branch was formed administratively and functioned as a Branch of the Department of Lands, assuming an independent existence as part of the National Parks and Wildlife Service upon commencement of the Act. (14) Administration of the areas defined in the Act as National Parks, State Parks, Historic Sites, and Nature Reserves were transferred to the National Parks and Wildlife Service, with administration of all other Parks and Reserves over Crown land remaining with the Department of Lands. (15)
Endnotes
1. Concise Guide to the NSW State Archives, Surveyor General, p.3.
2. Public Parks Act of 1854, 18 Vic. No.33.
3. Public Parks (No 2), 48 Vic, No 22, 1884.
4. Concise Guide to the NSW State Archives, Lands, p.56.
5. NSW Government Gazette 1928, Vol 2, No 70, 25 May 1928, p.2476.
6. Report of the Department of Lands for the year ended 30 June 1929, NSW Parliamentary Papers 1929-30, Vol 1, p.91.
7. Report of the Department of Lands for the year ended 30 June 1930, NSW Parliamentary Papers 1930-31-32, Vol 1, p.85.
8. ibid, pp.89-91.
9. Report of the Department of Lands for the year ended 30 June 1928, NSW Parliamentary Papers 1928-29, Vol 1, p.162.
10. Report of the Department of Lands for the year ended 30 June 1934, NSW Parliamentary Papers 1934-35, Vol 1, pp.73-75.
11. Report of the Department of Lands for the year ended 30 June 1950, NSW Parliamentary Papers 1950-51-52, Vol 1, p.330.
12. ibid, p.334.
13. NSW Government Gazette 1967, Vol 3, No 103, p.3445.
14. Report of the National Parks and Wildlife Service for the period 1 October 1967 to 30 June 1969, NSW Parliamentary Papers 1969-70-71, Vol 7, p.5.
15. Report of the Department of Lands, NSW Parliamentary Papers 1968-69, Vol 1, p.681.
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