VPRS 11717 Register of Licence Applications, Yarram

Full description

This series comprises an amalgamation of records of proceedings concerning liquor licence applications. If the register records applications made prior to 1890 it is likely that there will be proceedings for non-liquor licence applications.

Liquor licensing has had a complex history which is yet to be fully researched. The sale of liquor has been subject to regulation since the beginnings of settlement in Victoria. Following proclamation of the Licensing Act 1885 (40 Vic.,No.857) jurisdiction over liquor licensing has been vested in distinct judicial and administrative bodies. The records in this series may be of the following types according to the licensing authority which created them.

Courts of Petty Sessions Licence Registers to 1886

Up to 1886 registers of applications for liquor and non-liquor licences were created and maintained in local courts of petty sessions at which annual, quarterly and general sittings of justices of the peace, licensing benches or licensing magistrates occurred.

Licensing Courts Registers 1886-1954

Under the Licensing Act 1885 (40 Vic.,No.857) Victoria was divided into Licensing Districts, each one comprising a division of an electoral district. The Act provided for Licensing Courts to be constituted for each Licensing District to hear and determine liquor licence applications only. For its annual sittings each Licensing Court was to be constituted by three licensing magistrates, who could be police magistrates except in the (Melbourne) Metropolitan, Ballarat and Sandhurst (Bendigo) groups of Licensing Districts where one of the licensing magistrates was to be a county court judge. Outside of the annual sittings, applications could be heard and determined by any one member of the Licensing Court. Non-liquor licences continued to be heard by the court of petty sessions.

The registers created between 1886 and 1890 often document the transition of responsibility from the courts of petty sessions to the licensing courts. In most country areas the same volume continued to be used for liquor and non-liquor licence applications until circa 1890 when new stationery was introduced specifically for liquor licence applications. Between 1886 and 1890, the pages which recorded proceedings of the Licensing Court were annotated to show that they were a record of that authority.

Until 1916, separate Licensing Courts were constituted throughout Victoria to hear applications for a number of licensing districts. Under the Licensing Act 1916 (No.2855) the same three licensing magistrates held Licensing Court hearings on a circuit basis. The Licensing Amendment Act 1922 (No.3259) subsequently reduced the number of licensing districts from two hundred and seventeen (one for each division of an electoral district) to sixty-five (one for each electoral district). The registers always record the place of the sitting and the licensing districts to which the hearings related.

Victorian Licensing Court Registers 1954-1968

The Victorian Licensing Court succeeded the Licensing Courts under the Licensing Amendment Act 1953 (No.5767).The Court was constituted by two magistrates under the chairmanship of a judge of the County Court. Under the 1953 Act the division of the State into licensing districts effectively ceased although the Court continued to conduct hearings in licensing areas throughout the State.

Liquor Control Commission Registers 1968-1982

The Liquor Control Commission was established under the Liquor Control Act 1968 (No.7695) on 1 July 1968 as successor to the Victorian Licensing Court. The Liquor Control Commission was constituted by four members, the chairman being a County Court Judge. From 1975 the chairman could be any "judicial member". The Commission continued the practice of holding sittings at country and metropolitan locations.