AGY-3498 | Commissioner of Crown Lands for New England

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Concerns over the unregulated occupation of land in New South Wales led to an Act (4 Wm. IV No.10) in 1833 for the appointment of Commissioners of Crown Lands to prevent unauthorised occupation of crown land within the settled districts. (1)

In 1836, Commissioners of Crown Lands were first appointed under the provisions of Act 7 Wm. IV No.4 (1836) for the purpose of supervising Crown lands outside the settled district of the colony. The Act provided for the issue of licences for the depasturing of sheep and cattle on unoccupied Crown lands. (2)

The principal responsibilities of the Commissioners were: the prevention of Crown land being occupied without a licence, to collect the proceeds of the assessment on stock, and to ensure 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 reports.” (3)

The vast area of land outside the boundaries of the colony was divided into Districts, each with a Commissioner. The first seven Districts and their Commissioners were published in the New South Wales Gazette on 10 May 1837, and they were:

District No. 1: John Lambie, who was based at Braidwood
District No. 2: Evelyn Stuart, who was based at Yass
District No. 3: John Welman, also based at Yass and responsible for the area between the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan Rivers
District No. 4: Lawrence Dulhunty, who was based at Wellington Valley
District No. 5: Henry Bingham, based at Cassilis
District No. 6: Alexander Paterson, based at Jerry’s Plains
District No. 7: Henry Oakes, based at Port Macquarie. (4)

Act 2 Vic. No.19 (1838) continued and amended the 1836 Act and in the following year Act 2 Vic. No. 27(1839) established a Border Police under the control of the Land Commissioners. The Border Police were to police regulations issued in 1839 for the management of Crown Lands. (5) The regulations issued under the 1839 Act reorganised the Land Districts, establishing nine Districts, each with a Commissioner:

(1) Port Macquarie (formerly District No. 7) – Henry Oakes
(2) New England – George James Macdonald
(3) Liverpool Plains (formerly District No. 6) – Edward Mayne
(4) Bligh (formerly District No. 5) – Graham Hunter
(5) Wellington (formerly District No. 4) – Lawrence Dulhunty
(6) Lachlan (formerly District No. 3) – Henry Cosby
(7) Murrumbidgee (formerly District No. 2) – Henry Bingham
(8) Monaroo (formerly District No. 1) – John Lambie
(9) Port Phillip – Henry Gisbourne. (6)

In time, as settlement spread, additional Districts were established.

The Commissioners of Crown Lands were the sole officials of Government in areas outside the settled districts and as such they had magisterial authority. One of the principal objects of the 1839 Act “was to put a stop to the atrocities which have of late been so extensively committed beyond the boundaries, both by the Aborigines and on them.” (7) The Commissioners were instructed to hold an inquest or enquiry into every violent death of an Aboriginal Inhabitant as a result of “a collision with white men”. (8)

The Commissioners were required to submit reports to the Colonial Secretary until 1849, after which time they reported to the Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands. Reports prepared by the Land Commissioners included statistical information on the following: half-yearly returns of population and stock; quarterly returns of the conduct and employment of police; and returns of hawkers’ licences and of licencees fined for the non-renewal of their licences. (9) Commissioners investigated disputed ownership of land and it could take two full days to collect evidence that was often conflicting and inconclusive, and then a further three weeks to consider and deliver the judgement. (10)

George McDonald was appointed the first Commissioner of Crown Lands for New England on 21 May 1839. (11) The District of New England was “bounded on the east by a line north by compass from the top of the Werrikimber Mountain, which is at the head of the Hastings River; on the south by a line west by compass from the top of Werrikimber to the great dividing range; on the west by the western extreme of the great dividing range, so as to include the Table Land; and on the north the bounsary is indefinite.” (12)

On 11 May 1843, the Land District of New England was divided into two Districts; New England and the Darling Downs. (13) George Macdonald was retained as Commissioner for New England and Christopher Rolleston was appointed Commissioner for the Darling Downs. (14)

A Confidential Circular to Commissioners of Crown Lands from the Colonial Secretary’s Office dated 20 June 1846 warned of an imminent loss of the Commissioners powers following the expiry of provisions of Act 2 Vic No.27. Commissioners were no longer to have the power to settle disputes between occupiers of crown lands or to call for returns of stock. They were further informed that while their powers to remove intruders were in doubt, it remained unlawful for anyone to occupy crown lands without a licence and the Commissioners were to continue to report any unauthorised occupation. (15) In 1848, Act 11 Vic No.61 received its assent and provided for the appointment of Boundary Commissioners to examine and report upon disputes involving boundaries of Runs between claimants of leases. (16)

Orders in Council of 1847, issued under the authority of the Imperial Act 9 and 10 Vic.104 (1847) provided for the issue of leases for periods up to fourteen years in place of the annual licences. (17)

Robert Massie succeeded Macdonald as Commissioner for New England on 22 April 1848. (18) Massie also became responsible for the District of McLeay River when the Commissioner for that District, Edward Merewether, was appointed Acting Chief Inspector of Distilleries and Acting Agent for the Church and School Estates on 25 January 1854. (19)

Henry Fellowes succeeded Robert Massie on 7 December 1854 and Fellowes served as Commissioner until his death on 10 September 1855. (20) On 13 October 1855, Arthur Manning was appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands for the District of New England (21) and he either did not take up the appointment, or only served for a brief period because on 20 March 1856, the former Commissioner for McLeay River, Edward Merewether, was appointed Commissioner for the Districts of New England and McLeay River. (22)

On 1 January 1857, Abram Moriarty succeeded Merewether as Commissioner for New England and McLeay River. (23) Moriarty was succeeded by Frederick Mant on 21 January 1861, who was in turn succeeded by Frederick Gardiner on 25 July 1862. (24) In 1863, it appears the District of New England was divided into North and South, with the southern District remaining with McLeay River and the northern District combining with the District of Clarence. (25) On 1 January 1863, Alexander Black was appointed Commissioner of New England (South) and McLeay River. (26) In the 1860s, the District of McLeay River continued to be under the same Commissioner as the District of New England.

The local Commissioners were responsible to the Colonial Secretary until the appointment of a Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands in 1849. In 1856, the office of the Chief Commissioner was transferred to the control of the Department of Lands and in time was listed in the Blue Books for New South Wales (Public Service Lists) as the Occupation of Lands section within the Department. In 1870, the office of the Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands lapsed, although the local Land Commissioners remained under the control of the Secretary for Lands. Control of the local Crown Lands Commissioners was transferred to the Department of Mines in 1878 and the section was known as the Occupation of Lands Branch. (27)

When the local Crown Lands Commissioners were abolished around 1880 there were thirteen Districts: Albert, Bligh, Clarence, Darling, Gwydir, Lachlan, Liverpool Plains, Macleay, Monaro, Murrumbidgee, New England, Warrego, and Wellington. (28)

Records of the Occupation of Lands Branch of the Department of Mines were destroyed in the Garden Palace Fire on 22 September 1882. (29)

Endnotes
1. Act (4 Wm. IV No.10), An Act for protecting the Crown Lands of this Colony from Encroachment, Intrusion and Trespass, assented 28 August 1833.
2. Act 7 Wm. IV, No.4 (1836).
3. 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.
4. NSW Government Gazette No.275, 10 May 1837, p.362.
5. Act 2 Vic. No. 27(1839).
6. NSW Government Gazette No.418, 22 May 1839, pp.605-606.
7. Announcement by the Governor in the NSW Government Gazette No.418, 22 May 1839, p.605.
8. loc. cit.
9. McMartin, op. cit., p.205.
10. loc. cit.
11. NSW Government Gazette No.418, 22 May 1839, p.606.
12. ibid., p.605.
13. NSW Government Gazette No.40, 12 May 1843, pp.645-646.
14. NSW Government Gazette No.42, 19 May 1843, pp.676-677.
15. Public Records Office of Victoria, registration for Victorian Record Group (VRG) 27 District Land Offices.
16. The Act received its assent on 17 June 1848.
17. Concise Guide to the NSW State Archives (Ca – Commissioners).
18. Returns of the Colony for 1848. The spelling of Macdonald varies in the Returns of the Colony but this is the spelling used in the Government Gazette.
19. Returns of the Colony for 1854; the District of McLeay River was created on 1 March 1842 when the District of Port Macquarie was divided into that District and the District of Clarence River.
20. NSW Government Gazette No.150, 8 December 1854, p.2515; Returns of the Colony for 1855.
21. NSW Government Gazette No.148, 16 October 1855, p.2771.
22. NSW Government Gazette No.49, 25 March 1856, p.995.
23. Returns of the Colony for 1857.
24. Blue Books for 1861 and 1862.
25. Returns of the Colony for 1864.
26. Returns of the Colony for 1863. NSW Government Gazette No.59, 2 April 1863, p.798 lists Black’s appointment as a Commissioner on 1 January 1863 but does not give the District to which he was appointed.
27. Concise Guide to the NSW State Archives (Ca – Commissioners).
28. Second Annual Report upon the Occupation of Crown Lands, Stock and Brands, and Roads, Streets, and Gates Branches of the Department of Mines, New South Wales for the Year 1880, Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Assembly during the session of 1881, Vol. III, p.453.
29. Concise Guide to the NSW State Archives (Ca – Commissioners).