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Homestead Leases
Introduction
This material has been compiled by Rusheen Craig and is copyright. It has been posted for private study only. No copies may be made in any format except for private study, without written permission from the copyright holder rusheen@optusnet.com.au.
Initially much of the land in the Far West of NSW was divided into vast Pastoral Holdings. In 1884 the Government introduced a system of HOMESTEAD LEASES under which a person could apply for a "small" 10240 acre Homestead Lease, the land to be taken out of a Pastoral Holding.
The Homestead Lease System was a tightly controlled, highly legalised and well documented process - all of which is a goldmine of information for those wanting to find out about their ancestors on the land.
To hold a Homestead Lease (HL) it was necessary to-
1. SUBMIT AN APPLICATION
- showing that you were a suitable person to be a lessee.
-stating that you were not already in possession of a lease (one per person,unless the
first lease was small).
-lodge a deposit, often £43-13-4.
This application could be APPROVED or REFUSED by the Lands Dept, or the applicant could WITHDRAW his application.
2. TAKE UP THE HOMESTEAD LEASE
- by paying the Annual Rent (less the already paid Deposit).
- by paying the previous holder of the land for any improvements, and paying half of the
cost of the existing shared fencing.
- by residing on the lease.
- by commencing fencing the boundary of the entire lease (except the river frontage).
In some cases the Approved Homestead Lease was not accepted by the Applicant. Sometimes these Applicants accepted the Homestead Lease at a later date. The Non-Accepted Homestead Leases were made available to other applicants.
3. RENEW THE HOMESTEAD LEASE AFTER A YEAR.
-pay the annual rental (rate could be reviewed).
-show proof of residency- Inspector seeing the Lessee and a dwelling on the property .
-fencing completed-posts of correct height and spacing- with 5 wires.
FAILURE to comply fully with any of these conditions could result in FORFEITURE of the Homestead Lease (or at least a trip to the local Land Court to plead your case). In some cases the forfeiture was later reversed.
4. AND THE NEXT YEAR
-if all the conditions had not been met in the first year (and the HL had not been
forfeited) there would be another full inspection before HL renewal.
WHAT IS SHOWN ON THE ACCOMPANYING WEBPAGES
Depending on what was available in the Government Gazettes for
that year, each page may show tables for:
- lease applications that were approved,
- lease applications that were refused (by Lands Dept) or withdrawn by the applicant(prior
to approval) and HLs forfeited,
- lease applications that were approved (by Lands Dept) but not accepted by applicant
(available to others),
- rent re-appraisals.
The various tables will contain a selection of the following
columns (in various orders):
- Applicants name (SURNAME then first name(s) or initials),
- Land district - county - and one or more parishes,
- Acreage,
- Annual Rent (Pounds - Shillings - Pence),
- Application Number(Note the number applies to the Land District and may be duplicated in
other Land Districts),
- Homestead Lease number,
- Registration Number,
- Gazette Number (applies to the book number for the Government Gazette for that year),
- Action (refused/withdrawn/forfeited),
- Date of Action
WHAT WE LEARN FROM THE DOCUMENTS
THE APPLICATION
This can tell you what the APPLICANT HAS BEEN DOING eg Garrett Byrnes applying for Tarangara "...bushman and carrier....For the past two years I have been working for Mr Kay of Kullyne Station and carrying for Mr Egge. I have been carrying wood for lessees of the run on which the land is situated with my own team ".
The REACTION OF THE NEIGHBOURS can tell you about the lease eg when John Thomas Byrnes applied for Byrnedale the neighbour (and present holder of the land ) Kinchega objected "would render useless the remaining 4000 acres on east side...the tanks (dams) on Byrnedale enabling (other) runholders to feed a large number of sheep." The objection was dismissed because it was NOT RECEIVED WITHIN 14 DAYS of the application.
THE LEASE
The SURVEYOR’S REPORT always gives a detailed report of the soil type, vegetation and improvements on the lease. It also includes an appraisement for rent, eg. Garrett Byrnes’ Erin "appraisement for rent ....9 acres to a sheep...100mls to Broken Hill, 30mls to Menindie...large portion low country liable to flood...great deal of sandy hills ...the back portion is seemingly the best grazing land...it would keep about 1,000 sheep...cartage for wool to Adelaide £4 per ton...perimeter 20 miles.
The ANNUAL RENTAL was based on the surveyor’s estimation of the carrying capacity of the lease. The lessee often objected , saying the estimate was too high, eg Garrett said that" it would take 12 acres to carry one sheep...I have bought 1,000 sheep...I have cut scrub for my sheep...(after heavy rain) there is no feed without." The compromise was 59/100th of a penny per acre , making an annual rent of £25-3-6 annual rent; the survey fee was £42-13-4.
THE RENEWAL OF THE LEASE
This was the time when we find out what had really been happening on the properties.The Inspector from the Lands Department came around firstly to see if the lessee HAD BEEN LIVING ON THE LEASE . This can give you a description of the family home, eg. Garrett Byrnes’ Tarangara had 2 houses " one house containing 2 rooms , galvanized roof, 1 room 14ft by 12ft, the other 12ft by 12ft. Height of house 9ft. Walls made of pine logs...."
It can also show you how difficult the conditions were, eg Daniel Byrnes was summonsed to the Menindie Court to explain his failure to reside on his lease at the Bourke’s Plain Tank (next to Glenlyn) "lived on the lease only 6 weeks this year (1900). ......delicate man..over 70yrs...ill...no water....drought....water difficult until recently sunk tank....returned to lease a month ago..."Homestead Lease was renewed.
Drought was also usually also the reason for NOT PAYING THE ANNUAL RENT. Our family was often before the Land Court asking for an extension of time to pay overdue rent, eg. John Thomas Byrnes was granted an extension of time to pay his rent in Nov 1901 owing to the continuous drought, but in Feb 1903 he was again unable to pay his rent "drought, which has just broken, has all but ruined me...having lost my stock and the feed and water...have not been on the block long enough for me to do anything towards recovering myself...have been driven off my lease for the last 12 months".
(Just to balance the picture, Garrett tells of needing some higher ground because Erin had been flooded out 4 times.)
The greatest stumbling block for the new Homestead Lessee was the ERECTION OF A 5 WIRE FENCE around his property. Imagine expecting a man to build this fence for about 10 miles around his property IN ONE YEAR!!
HOW TO GET MORE HOMESTEAD LEASE INFORMATION.
IT’S NOT EASY !
- GOVERNMENT GAZETTES (Mitchell Library,Sydney)- These are the source of the HL information I have provided. They contain little more than I have included –Amount paid per acre,Deposit, and sometimes the Value of the Improvements.The "Gaz" column in the HLs tells you the number of the book in the Gazetted year of your HL.
- WESTERN SYDNEY RECORDS CENTRE, 143 O’Connell St, Kingswood. Phone (02) 9673 1788. Take all the identification numbers of your HL. Be prepared to spend time following the trail of your HL through the giant original books that have kept a reference of all official dealings with the Lessee.Eventually you will see the notation "Put Away" – the number here will get you the ENTIRE ORIGINAL FILE – all the forms filled in by your ancestors, all the replies and the reports from the Lands Dept.
Make certain at all stages in your research that you ask for HOMESTEAD LEASES- NOT Pastoral Leases or Pastoral Holdings.
If you look in the Mitchell Library at:
The Western Division Administrative (Pasture Protection) District Series.
Author - Dept of Lands.
M Ser 3/817gbp (card index).
you will get a 1949 map of the Land District that MIGHT still show your Homestead Lease.
My thanks to NSW-WEST for all their help in the presentation of this information.
GOOD LUCK IN YOUR RESEARCH
Rusheen
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