Alton Survey District - Map of Land for Sale

Shared by Central & Western Murihiku Southland Archive

Map showing land for sale in the Alton Survey District. Text on map reads, from top to bottom and left to right: "Southland Land District No. 450, Sections in Blocks III, VI, X, XI, ALTON SURVEY DISTRICT. RURAL LANDS for selection on the OPTIONAL SYSTEM. 6,698 Acres, 1 Rood, 11 Perches. NOTICE is hereby given that the under-mentioned Lands are open for Sale or Selection, in terms of "The Land Act, 1908," either for CASH, for OCCUPATION WITH RIGHT OF PURCHASE, or for RENEWABLE LEASE, at the option of the selector, and applications will be received at the District Lands Office, INVERCARGILL, up to 4 o'clock pm on: Wednesday, 25th August, 1909. Applicants will have to appear personally before the Land Board at the District Lands Office, Invercargill, at 10 o'clock am on Thursday, the 26th August, 1909, to answer any questions the Land Board may ask. The ballot for the sections for which there is more than one applicant will be held on Friday, the 27th August, 1909, at 11 o'clock am, at the District Lands Office, Invercargill. WALLACE COUNTY. - ALTON SURVEY DISTRICT. Second-class land. [Details are not all clear, so they are not recorded here. However a list of all the sections sold, owners named, along with sizes of plots, recorded below, if listed:] BLK I - Section 11, Gustavus Tapper BLK II - Sec 1, Archibald Miller Sec 2, James Miller Sec 3, William Scott Sec 4, William Scott Sec 6, Reserved BLK III to North at Lillburn District - Crown Land BLK III to South at Papatotara District - Sec 1, Oliver Acker Sec 2, Donald MacPherson Sec's 3-9 (not on map) Sec 10, no name recorded Sec's 11-16 (not on map) Sec 17, Donald MacPherson Sec's 18-21 (not on map) Sec 22, no name recorded Sec 23, Crown Land Sec 24, Edward J Norman Sec 25, not on map Sec 26, Rebecca J Acker Sec 27, Rebecca J Acker Sec 28, not on map Sec 29, Joe Coughlan - 307 acres & 28 perches Sec 30, Crown Land Sec 31, Crown Land Sec 32, School Reserve Sec 33, GR Sec 34, GR BLK IV - ? sections not on map BLK V - Reserved for Landless Natives (our CWArchives has maps of all this land & those originally given ownership) BLK VI - Sec 1, Crown Land Sec 2, Forest Reserve Sec 3, Kokay - 362 acres Sec 4, Forest Reserve Sec 5, Joe Beaton - 331 acres & 2 roods Sec 6, Crown Land Sec 7, DR Leggat (Miller Grant?) - 360 acres & 2 roods Sec 8, Reserved Sec 9, Reserved Sec 10, Archie White BLK VII Reserved for Landless Natives (our CWArchives has maps of all this land & those originally given ownership) BLK VIII - not on map BLK IX - not on map BLK X - Sec 6, King - 340 acres, 1 rood & 10 perches Sec 7, King - 364 acres, 1 rood & 25 perches Sec 8, N or V Mackey or possibly Mackay - 375 acres, 3 roods & 37 perches Sec 9, J Racz - 263 acres, 2 roods & 33 perches Sec 10, King - 266 acres BLK XI - Sec 1, C Crow - 488 acres & 2 roods Sec 2, Reserved Sec 3, J McDonald - 311 acres Sec 4, Crown Land Sec 5, E Campbell - 291 acres Sec 6, Reserved Sec 7, I or J? Broomhall - 289 acres & 3 roods Sec 8, D Watson - 302 acres & 2 roods Sec 9, Moffat, (transferred to Lorrie - should be Laurie?) - 284 acres, 2 roods & 28 perches Sec 10, A Perkins - 266 acres, 2 roods & 10 perches Sec 11, Reserved Sec 12, H (someone, unreadable sadly) - 313 acres, 2 roods Sec 13, (someone unreadable sadly) - 274 acres & 2 roods Sec 14, (someone unreadable sadly) - 259 acres & 3 roods Sec 15, Reserved" INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS. Applications may be made at the District Lands Office, Invercargill... (a lot of missing text, which our volunteers will add in during days to come)... CAUTION... (more missing text to still be added)... EH Wilmot, Commissioner of Crown Lands" ABSTRACT OF CONDITIONS. Conditional Purchase. "Cash" System. 1. APPLICANTS to be seventeen years of age and upwards - 2. Applicants to furnish statutory declaration with applications, and, on being declared successful, deposit one-fifth of purchase money; the balance, with Crown-grant fee, is payable within thirty days. The Crown-grant fee is £1 for every 100 acres or less, and 1/4 d. for each additional acre. 3. Including all other land already owned, held or occupied under a tenure of more than one year's duration, no person may hold more than 5,000 acres; every acre of first-class land being reckoned as 7 1/2 acres, and every acre of second-class land being reckoned as 2 1/2 acres. 4. Improvements - Purchaser must, within seven years, improve the land to the extent of £1 per acre on first-class lands and 10s. per acre on second-class lands, otherwise no Crown-grant can issue. OCCUPATION WITH RIGHT OF PURCHASE. 1. TERM of license: twenty-five years, with right of purchase after ten years if conditions fulfilled. 2. Rental: 5 per cent. per annum on the capital value, payable on 1st January and 1st July in each year, and subject to a rebate for prompt payment at discretion of Commissioner of Crown Lands and Receiver of Land Revenue. 3. Applicants to be seventeen years of age and upwards. 4. Applicants to furnish statutory declaration with applications, and, on being declared successful, deposit £1 1s. (license fee), and a half-year's rent. 5. Applications made on the same day are deemed to be simultaneous. 6. Order of selection is decided by ballot, preference being given to landless applicants. 7. Including all other land already owned, held or occupied under a tenure of more than one year's duration, no person may hold more than 5,000 acres; every acre of first-class land being reckoned as 7 1/2 acres, and every acre of second-class land being reckoned as 2 1/2 acres. 8. Successful applicants to execute license within thirty days after being notified that it is ready for signature. 9. Residence is to commence within four years in bush lands or swamp lands, and within one year in open or partly open lands, and to be continuous for six years on bush lands or swamp lands, and for seven years on open or partly open lands. 10. Improvements - Licensee is required to improve the land within one year to the value of 10 per cent. of the price; within two years, to the value of another 10 per cent. of the price; thereafter, but within six years, to the value of another 10 per cent. of the price. In addition to the foregoing, and within six years, improvements are also to be effected to the value of £1 for every acre of first-class land, and 10s. for every acre of second-class land. 11. An occupation with-right-of-purchase license is registered under "The Land Transfer Act, 1908." 12. Licensee to pay all rates, taxes, and assessments. 13. Transfer not allowed until completion of two years' continuous residence, except under extraordinary circumstances, and then only with permission. 14. License is liable for forfeiture if conditions are violated. RENEWABLE LEASE. 1. TERM of lease: sixty-six years, with a perpetual right of renewal for further successive terms of sixty-six years. 2. Rental: 4 per cent. per annum on the capital value, payable on 1st January and 1st July in each year, and subject to a rebate for prompt payment at discretion of Commissioner of Crown Lands and Receiver of Land Revenue. 3. Applicants to be seventeen years of age and upwards. 4. Applicants to furnish statutory declaration with applications, and, on being declared successful, deposit £1 1s. (lease-fee), and a half-year's rent; also the rent for the broken period between date of lease and 1st January or 1st July following. 5. Applications made on the same day are deemed to be simultaneous. 6. Order of selection is decided by ballot, preference being given to landless applicants. 7. Including all other land already owned, held, or occupied under a tenure of more than one year's duration, no person may hold more than 5,000 acres; every acre of first-class land being reckoned as 7 1/2 acres, and every acre of second class land being reckoned as 2 1/2 acres. 8. Successful applicants to execute lease within 30 days after being notified that it is ready for signature. 9. Residency is to commence within four years in bush lands or swamp lands, and within one year in open or partly open lands, and to be continuous for ten years. 10. Improvements - Lessee is required to improve the land within one year to the value of 10 per cent. of the price; within two years, to the value of another 10 per cent. of the price; and thereafter, but within six years, to the value of another 10 per cent. of the price. In addition to the foregoing, and within six years, improvements are also to be effected to the value of £1 for every acre of first-class land, 10s. for every second-class land, and 2s. 6d. for every acre of third-class land. 11. A renewable lease is registered under "The Land Transfer Act, 1908." 12. Lessee to pay all rates, taxes and assessments. 13. Transfer not allowed until completion of two years' continuous residence except under extraordinary circumstances, and then only with permission. 14. Lessee has no right to minerals, without license; but he may use on the land and minerals for any agricultural, pastoral, household, road making, or building purpose. 15. Lessee may pay up to 90 per cent. of capital value of allotments in sums of not less than £10; rent to be reduced proportionately. All moneys so paid shall be repayable to the owner of the lease when it is renewed or determined. No conditions, except residence and payment of rent, are enforced when amount so paid is not less than 33 per cent. of the capital value. Any money exceeding 33 per cent. of capital value is repayable to lessee on application. 16. Lease is liable to forfeiture if conditions are violated. PLAN OF LOCALITY A small map showing where Alton District is within the wider district." Some Location History: Not long after the SILNA or South Island Landless Natives Act had set aside parcels of land nearby at Rowallan, part of the Alton Survey District (above), was made available to settlers. We can see that the Hungarian immigrants who settled at Tūātapere in the early days, took up land here in Alton Block. More details about all of this can be found in the entry on the Rowallan Block under CWA.017.010.020 in these online Community Archives. A lot of the land in this area was covered in native bush, thick moss and consisted of very steep hills and crossed by many soggy streams, being virtually uninhabitable. Hopefully this entry will be added to as more information comes to hand. If you or anyone you know has any more information or photos to share or accounts of Alton Survey District and the settlers there during the years, please do share this with us in the comments section. You can do this by making a comment in the space provided under the image page. Or you can make contact with us as per the archive front page. Note: these entries are compiled with information provided by donors with the records, from locally reported news, from national and occasionally international reports in publications, from personal records made by people on the land - such as their electoral enrollments, wills, war records etc., also from government and council held records such as land maps, property values, births, deaths and marriages or cemetery information, and lastly, from community memories, such as those passed on by workers, friends, family and contemporaries. It is not always possible to verify memories from others, so please let us know if you believe we have any incorrect information. If you believe that any public or personal record information quoted is wrong, if you can provide proof of any alternative fact to us in a document showing evidence of the correct details, that would be very helpful to us. Thank you.