"Perch" has several meanngs, two of which are easily confused in the context of the present query. 1. Perch = unit of lineal measurement, 5.5 yards - which sounds an odd figure, but is more easliy understood once you relize that it also equals one-quarter of a chain (22 yards). Synonyms for this perch are Rod, or Pole. 2. Perch = unit of superficial measurement, = one square-perch (see meaning one, above), or 30.25 square yards, or one-sixteenth of a square-chain. Rood is another term, used with various meanings at different times. In Australia, it is used as a unit of superficial measurement, and means 40 perches = one-quarter of an acre. In my experience, Queenslanders used to (and many still do) talk about perches; whereas Victorians preferred square-yards (nowadays, square-metres) when talking about land. But, I have seen old plans of subdivision, where parcels of land were described as "1a.2r.30p", meaning one acre, two roods, and 30 perches. Very complicated: reminiscent of pounds, shillings, and pence. Other aspects of the original query: What did the 42nd Section of the Amending Land Act cover? - land law in Victoria was codified in the 1860s. You need to consult the text of whichever Act of Parliament is referred to. Your chances of finding that on the web are slim. You'll need to enlist the assistance of someone with access to a major legal library in Victoria - the Universities would be the most accessible. I sudied land law a long time ago; haven't needed to keep current with it; and don't recall the historical details of what I was taught. How much land could be held under that act? - don't know, but there probably was a limit. Was it 'free' land, which could be claimed, and if improved upon, became the claimants after a period of time? - Governments then didn't give much away. Sale of crown land was a major source of revenue. There were some concessional aspects of various schemes, to encourage investment. Could people give property away before their death, thus avoiding death taxes? - when death duties (sometimes called probate duty) were current, there was generally a parallel scheme of gift taxes, to ensure that government revenue was not prejudiced. Peter THOMAS Darwin, AUSTRALIA <pmthomas@bigpond.com> -----Original Message----- From: Peter Robinson [mailto:tworobbos@net-tech.com.au] Sent: Wednesday, 10 August 2005 8:42 PM To: AUS-VIC-GOLDFIELDS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: Perch When I went to school (a long, long time ago) it was Rod, Pole or Perch - all interchangeable names for the same unit of measure. the older of the tworobbos ______________________________

Hi Julia, Peter is correct in his reference to a.r.p. (acres, roods, perches) - this is the land measurement which appears on all Parish maps and is also used in Rate & Valuation Books for municipal land records. The Amending Land Act was introduced in 1865. Section 42 of the Act allowed people to reside on and cultivate land in and around the goldfields under annual licences. This section tentatively introduced the notion of selection before survey. [from "The Lands Manual: A Finding Guide to Victorian Lands Records, 1836-1983"] In Ballarat, for example, much of the land selected under Section 42 was not converted to traditional Land Titles until the 1970s! The Crown Allotment containing 32 perches was a typical size for a town allotment - perhaps a little smaller than many which were often 1 rood (40 perches) and would appear on Townland Maps as 0.1.0 which equated to 0 acres, 1 rood, 0 perches. Hope that helps ........ Susie Z ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Thomas" <pmthomas@bigpond.com> To: <AUS-VIC-GOLDFIELDS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 10:49 PM Subject: RE: Land records & definitions - Perch - two meanings - land law > > "Perch" has several meanngs, two of which are easily confused in the > context of the present query. > > 1. Perch = unit of lineal measurement, 5.5 yards - which sounds an odd > figure, but is more easliy understood once you relize that it also > equals one-quarter of a chain (22 yards). Synonyms for this perch are > Rod, or Pole. > > 2. Perch = unit of superficial measurement, = one square-perch (see > meaning one, above), or 30.25 square yards, or one-sixteenth of a > square-chain. > > Rood is another term, used with various meanings at different times. In > Australia, it is used as a unit of superficial measurement, and means 40 > perches = one-quarter of an acre. > > In my experience, Queenslanders used to (and many still do) talk about > perches; whereas Victorians preferred square-yards (nowadays, > square-metres) when talking about land. But, I have seen old plans of > subdivision, where parcels of land were described as "1a.2r.30p", > meaning one acre, two roods, and 30 perches. Very complicated: > reminiscent of pounds, shillings, and pence. > > Other aspects of the original query: > What did the 42nd Section of the Amending Land Act cover? - land law in > Victoria was codified in the 1860s. You need to consult the text of > whichever Act of Parliament is referred to. Your chances of finding > that on the web are slim. You'll need to enlist the assistance of > someone with access to a major legal library in Victoria - the > Universities would be the most accessible. I sudied land law a long > time ago; haven't needed to keep current with it; and don't recall the > historical details of what I was taught. > > How much land could be held under that act? - don't know, but there > probably was a limit. > > Was it 'free' land, which could be claimed, and if improved upon, became > the claimants after a period of time? - Governments then didn't give > much away. Sale of crown land was a major source of revenue. There > were some concessional aspects of various schemes, to encourage > investment. > > Could people give property away before their death, thus avoiding death > taxes? - when death duties (sometimes called probate duty) were current, > there was generally a parallel scheme of gift taxes, to ensure that > government revenue was not prejudiced. > > > Peter THOMAS > Darwin, AUSTRALIA > <pmthomas@bigpond.com> > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Peter Robinson [mailto:tworobbos@net-tech.com.au] > Sent: Wednesday, 10 August 2005 8:42 PM > To: AUS-VIC-GOLDFIELDS-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: Perch > > > When I went to school (a long, long time ago) it was Rod, Pole or Perch > - all interchangeable names for the same unit of measure. > > the older of the tworobbos > > ______________________________ > > > > ==== AUS-VIC-GOLDFIELDS Mailing List ==== > Victorian place names database > http://www.rootsweb.com/~auswgw/vic_place_names.htm > >

Hello Listers >What did the 42nd Section of the Amending Land Act cover? The Amending Land Act of 1865 surveyed allotments of 40 to 640 acres and opened them up for selection. Selectors could not obtain an immediate freehold title. The land could be leased for a minimum of three and a maximum of seven years. The lessee had to make improvements to the value of one pound (£1) per acre within two years. After three years the land could be purchased either through public auction, or without competition if the lessee had been residing on the land. Section 42 of the Act allowed people to reside on and cultivate the land in and around the goldfields under annual licences. Section 42 tentatively introduced the notion of selection before survey, which was further developed in section 19 of the 1869 Land Act. Records (and correspondence of individual lessees) of section 42 land grants can be accessed at the North Melbourne Public Record Office. These are known as "Selection Files". Selection Files These cover leases and licences which terminate in the sale of the land to the occupant ("Alienation from the Crown") All paperwork on the lease, licence, improvements, rent arrears, personal explanations, mortgages and documents relating to the Crown Grant are grouped together in a discrete file. The key to this file is: Parish & Township Plans, (maps) available in VPRO search room & State Library of Victoria. Names of grantees (people who purchased Crown land) and file numbers relevant to the particular allotments of sold or reserved land, are marked on these plans. If you do not know the name of the parish, you need to first consult: The "Township and Parish Guide" also at the VPRO (ask at the research desk) : lists township, parish, county, land district, municipality. You will find, on the block you are interested in, a two-level number written as a fraction, e.g. 2084 (serial number or application number) ------ 42 ( Section of the land act) District Office (e.g. Benalla) This information "Benalla 2084/42" is the key to all the correspondence, which is a file which is added to as the correspondence arrives, so the earliest is at the bottom of the file, the latest on the top. You will be able to then consult: Name card index for "section 42", a card file which may be microfiched VPRS 624 Land Selection Files under section 42 (the actual files) I think everything you want is at VPRO North Melbourne. These notes are from a lecture I gave at a "Lands Seminar" in 1992, and I believe are still applicable. regards, Ada Ackerly, Melbourne, Australia formerly Ackerly DocuSearch -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.338 / Virus Database: 267.10.7/70 - Release Date: 11-08-05

Thank you Peter for that wounderful lesson on history. It was a good read. Bruce Behan Pascoe Vale ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Thomas" <pmthomas@bigpond.com> To: <AUS-VIC-GOLDFIELDS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 10:49 PM Subject: RE: Land records & definitions - Perch - two meanings - land law > > "Perch" has several meanngs, two of which are easily confused in the > context of the present query. > > 1. Perch = unit of lineal measurement, 5.5 yards - which sounds an odd > figure, but is more easliy understood once you relize that it also > equals one-quarter of a chain (22 yards). Synonyms for this perch are > Rod, or Pole. > > 2. Perch = unit of superficial measurement, = one square-perch (see > meaning one, above), or 30.25 square yards, or one-sixteenth of a > square-chain. > > Rood is another term, used with various meanings at different times. In > Australia, it is used as a unit of superficial measurement, and means 40 > perches = one-quarter of an acre. > > In my experience, Queenslanders used to (and many still do) talk about > perches; whereas Victorians preferred square-yards (nowadays, > square-metres) when talking about land. But, I have seen old plans of > subdivision, where parcels of land were described as "1a.2r.30p", > meaning one acre, two roods, and 30 perches. Very complicated: > reminiscent of pounds, shillings, and pence. > > Other aspects of the original query: > What did the 42nd Section of the Amending Land Act cover? - land law in > Victoria was codified in the 1860s. You need to consult the text of > whichever Act of Parliament is referred to. Your chances of finding > that on the web are slim. You'll need to enlist the assistance of > someone with access to a major legal library in Victoria - the > Universities would be the most accessible. I sudied land law a long > time ago; haven't needed to keep current with it; and don't recall the > historical details of what I was taught. > > How much land could be held under that act? - don't know, but there > probably was a limit. > > Was it 'free' land, which could be claimed, and if improved upon, became > the claimants after a period of time? - Governments then didn't give > much away. Sale of crown land was a major source of revenue. There > were some concessional aspects of various schemes, to encourage > investment. > > Could people give property away before their death, thus avoiding death > taxes? - when death duties (sometimes called probate duty) were current, > there was generally a parallel scheme of gift taxes, to ensure that > government revenue was not prejudiced. > > > Peter THOMAS > Darwin, AUSTRALIA > <pmthomas@bigpond.com> > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Peter Robinson [mailto:tworobbos@net-tech.com.au] > Sent: Wednesday, 10 August 2005 8:42 PM > To: AUS-VIC-GOLDFIELDS-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: Perch > > > When I went to school (a long, long time ago) it was Rod, Pole or Perch > - all interchangeable names for the same unit of measure. > > the older of the tworobbos > > ______________________________ > > > > ==== AUS-VIC-GOLDFIELDS Mailing List ==== > Victorian place names database > http://www.rootsweb.com/~auswgw/vic_place_names.htm > > >