VPRS 11861 Statistical Summary of Sales by Auction

Full description

This series was created by the Land Sales Branch of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538).

The series records the monthly statistics of sales by public auction. These registers were created by the department to assist in the preparation of annual reports. The summary data of each individual sale was derived from the Register of Land Sales by Public Auction (VPRS 11862) and summarised monthly, half-yearly and annually.

These records contain information regarding the total amount of revenue received from the sale of Crown lands by public auction and the total area alienated from the Crown in this manner. It appears that the practice of maintaining this form of statistic was abandoned by the department at the end of August 1969.

The Department of Crown Lands and Survey and its successors were responsible for the exploration, survey, alienation, management and use of Crown land in Victoria. The Department administered the sale of land by auction and selection, the issue of occupation licences and leases and the issue of Deeds of Grant for alienated land and for reserves granted for public purposes such as schools and churches.

Initially the sale of land by public auction was the main form of alienation of Crown land. The recordkeeping system governing sales by auction comprises eleven series which document the chain of legal and administrative procedures and processes from advertisement of land for sale to the issue of a Deed of Grant.

The Department prepared lists of lands recommended for sale by officials.
Selectors could also apply for land to be made available for sale. Land designated for sale by auction was proclaimed in the Government Gazette and advertised in newspapers. The Land Sales Branch was responsible for the preparation of technical descriptions of the land which were inserted in the Sale Contract Books (VPRS 873) and subsequently inserted in the Deed of Crown Grant.

Between one and three months prior to the auction, the department prepared and distributed Notices of Land Sale by Public Auction (VPRS 11869). The notices gave details of the sale including the size and orientation of each of the allotments offered for sale.

At the auction, after each individual allotment was sold, details of the purchaser were entered in the previously prepared Sale Contract Books (VPRS 873) next to the technical description of the sold allotment. Data recorded included the purchase price and the name and address of the purchaser. Upon signing the contract the purchaser would receive a receipt for the deposit paid.

The officer conducting the auction was responsible for the preparation of the Auctioneers Reports of Land Sales by Public Auction (VPRS 80). These reports were prepared in duplicate. One copy was sent to the Treasury together with the deposits received and the other was forwarded to the Land Sales Branch.

Details of each individual sale, as recorded in the auctioneers report, were then entered in the general Register of Land Sales by Public Auction (VPRS 11862). Upon receipt of the balance of the purchase money, the Deed Branch prepared the Crown Grant and registered its issue in the applicable Register of Crown Grants. See :-

VPRS 11868 - for the period 1837 to 1851

VPRS 11866 - for the years 1851 to 1858

VPRS 11865 - for the period 1859 to 1988 and

VPRS 11864 for Crown Grants issued between 1988 and 1991.

The department created a Name Index to the Register of Crown Grants. See VPRS 11863 and VPRS 11867, for the periods 1837 to 1851 and 1851 to 1858 respectively. Subsequent registers are self-indexing both by parish/town and name of Grantee.

As part of the recordkeeping system governing the sale of land by public auction, the department also prepared a Statistical Summary of Sales by Auction (VPRS 11861), which provided summary information regarding the total area of land alienated from the Crown in this manner and the revenue received from such sales.

In 1988 under the provisions of Administrative Arrangement Order No.58 legal responsibility for the sale of Crown land was transferred to the Department of Property and Services (VA 430). From 1991 Crown Grants were registered in that departments database which was subsequently maintained by VA 3016 Department of Finance. The database contains details of Crown Grants issued between 1991 and 1997. As at December 1998 both this electronic record and subsequent records are held by VA 3745 Department of Treasury and Finance.

Although the Department of Property and Services was technically responsible for land sales, the Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands continued to manage such sales (particularly in rural areas) as a land agent for the Department of Property and Services.