Regulations for the Granting and Sale of Land

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser

6 September 1826

Government Order (No. 35.) Colonial Secretary's Office, 5th Sept. 1826 Regulations for The Granting And Sale Of Land.

His Excellency the Governor is pleased to notify, that the following Regulations, in Furtherance of His Majesty's Instructions, for the disposal of land, have been established, until His Majesty's Pleasure shall be known:

1. Persons, desirous of obtaining land, will address themselves to the Colonial Secretary, who will furnish them with the established form of application.

When the Governor shall be satisfied of the character and respectability of the applicant, the Colonial Secretary will be instructed to furnish him with a letter to the Land Board, in order that the Amount of Capital, which he can command, may be ascertained.

Stock of every description, implements of husbandry, and other articles which may be applicable to agricultural purposes, are to be considered as Capital, as likewise any half-pay or pension which the applicant may receive from Government.

2d. The Land Board will carefully investigate the particulars of the capital which the respective applicants are stated to possess; it being of importance that settlers should not receive a greater extent of land than they are capable of improving, and that grants should not be made to persons who are desirous only of disposing of them.

The Regulations, fixing the period within which persons receiving grants without purchase, will not be allowed to alienate the lands (without subjecting themselves to a forfeiture of the grants) will be hereafter notified.

3d. When the Governor is satisfied as to the amount of capital possessed by the applicant, the latter will be furnished, by the Colonial Secretary, with a letter to the Surveyor General, who will afford him every necessary information, and will give him a written authority (for which he will pay a fee of 2s. 6d.) to proceed in search of land.

4th. When he has made his selection, he will apprize the Surveyor General, by letter, who will point out in his report (to be transmitted twice a month for the Governor's information) the situation, &c. of such lands as have been selected.

If approved by His Excellency, the Colonial Secretary will give the applicant a written Authority to take possession of the land (in which the conditions will be specified) until His Majesty's pleasure be known, or the grant be made out.

5th. The following boundaries have been fixed, within which persons, who may be allowed to purchase, or to receive grants, on paying an annual Quit-rent, will be permitted to make their Selection:

The Northern Boundary to be from Cape Hawke, in a line due west to Wellington Valley. The western boundary to be the River Macquarie, from Wellington Valley to the 33d parallel of latitude; from thence, the line to be extended to the 148 degree of east longitude; and from that point directly south, until it reaches the River Lachlan; thence due east to Campbell's River, pursuing the line of that river to the southward, and so on to the latitude of Bateman-bay, which forms the southern boundary.

6th. The Government will reserve, for its own use, 10,000 acres, in the immediate neighbourhood of the settlement at Bathurst, which the Surveyor General will mark out, without loss of time, so that settlers may not be impeded in selecting their land.

7th. Land, granted without purchase, to be held in free and common Socage, the grantee paying a Quit-rent of 5 per Cent, per annum on the value, to be fixed by the Commissioners.

8th. The payment of the Quit-rent not to commence until the end of seven years, after the grantee shall have been authorized to settle on the land. Within that period, however, the grantee must expend, in improvements on the land so granted, a sum equal to one-fourth of the value estimated by the Commissioners, under the penalty of forfeiting the grant.

9th. The Quit-rent to be redeemable at the option of the grantee, on payment into the Colonial Treasury of a sum equal to twenty years purchase, provided such payment be made within twenty years after the date and execution of the grant.

10th. Lands to be granted in square miles, in the proportion of one square mile, or 610 acres, for every £500 Sterling of capital, which the applicant can immediately command, to the extent of four square miles, or 2560 Acres, which is the utmost that can be granted without purchase.

The Crown reserves to itself the right of making and constructing such roads and bridges, as may be necessary for public purposes, on lands to be granted as above; and also to such indigenous timber, stone, and other materials the produce of the land, as may be required for making and keeping the said roads and bridges in repair.

11th. The land, selected by individuals, who have obtained leave to purchase, will be valued by the Commissioners, with as little delay as possible, and will be put up to sale for one month (by proclamation) as directed by His Majesty's instructions, and will not be sold at a lower rate than the value so fixed.

12th. Sealed tenders, for the purchase of the land, advertised as above, to be addressed, under cover, to the Colonial Secretary, and marked "Tender for Land."

At the end of   a month, from the date of the proclamation, the tenders will be opened in the presence of such persons as the Governor may appoint, when the land will be disposed of, as directed by His Majesty's instructions, to the person making the highest tender, if approved by the Governor. Lands purchased will be held in free and common socage, paying a yearly Quit-rent, to the Crown, of one pepper corn.

13th. The purchaser will be required to deposit ten per cent, of the purchase money previously to his receiving possession of the land, and the sale will be confirmed by the necessary instrument, when the present arrangement shall be approved by His Majesty.

14th. No person will be permitted, by any contract, or succession of contracts, to become the purchaser of more than 9600 acres, including the land he may have previously purchased, unless duly authorised by a special order from the Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies.

15th. Persons, desirous of obtaining "Reserves of Land," or "Grants in Extension," will make application, in the prescribed form, through the Colonial Secretary; and, if no objection exists, the Governor will authorize them to occupy the land they may make choice of, until His Majesty's pleasure be known, on their engaging to pay rent, in. the mean time, at the rate of one pound sterling per annum, for every 100 Acres.  

By His Excellency's Command, Alexander M'Leay.