NRS-15903 | Books of Reference to Proclaimed Plans

Full description

The Books of Reference to Proclaimed Plans record detailed descriptions of properties referenced in the series "Proclaimed Plans" (NRS 15244). The Proclaimed Plans specified land that would be taken by resumption or other instrument for railway purposes. The Books of Reference accompanied Proclaimed Plans, being forwarded to local courts or municipal council offices for public exhibition so that affected landowners could lodge objections or claims.

Each Book is for a particular line, branch or extension, or part thereof, within a given Parish or Police District.

Particulars of properties were entered into the Book of Reference and numbered, this number corresponding to that on the Proclaimed Plan. Each entry also included a description of the property, giving the Portion or Lot number; state of cultivation; quantity of land required for railway purposes; names of owners, lessees and occupiers; and other remarks.

Most Books bear the Seal of the Railway Commissioners or Construction Authority and signed ‘approved’ by the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council. The back page usually bears a stamp from either the Department of Public Works or N.S.W. Government Railways, each stamp indicting a number preceded by the prefix ‘P’, ‘PH’ or ‘L’. This number refers to a specific Proclaimed Plan.

The arrangement of the series indicates that the Books of Reference have been grouped together into line or branch order. Several of these groupings feature as bound volumes.

Custody History:
From 1955 until 2000 the State Rail Authority of New South Wales maintained an ‘in house archives’ consisting of the archival records of the Authority, its predecessor agencies and the private railway companies taken over by the government. The date ranges of the records were from 1849 until 2000. When the decision was made to close the ‘State Rail Archives’ the parts of the collection that were required as State archives were transferred to the State Records Authority of NSW. Those record series were incorporated into the State Records series system of archives control and were re-numbered.

This series was formerly part of the State Rail Archives collection where it was identified as series R83. It may have been viewed in the State Rail Archives as series R83 and could have been previously cited as such in notes by researchers at State Rail Archives or in publications or unpublished works.