Land – the basis of SA settlement
The origins of South Australia as a 'free settler' colony was based on land. The new colony would be developed on a version of the Wakefield Scheme, which populated South Australia with a self-supporting combination of landowners, tradespeople and labourers.
The colony was to be formally established when sufficient SA land rights had been sold in Britain, sight unseen. Proceeds were to go to an Emigration Fund to finance the costs of bringing labourers to the colony. Initial land sales were slow, but the South Australian Company purchased a significant proportion of the land entitlements to allow the British Province (later Crown Colony) of South Australia to proceed.
It was assumed that land in the colony at the time of its establishment would be owned by the Crown. Although, the Letters Patent which clarified the processes of settlement recognised the rights of the 'Aboriginal Natives to live unhindered within the lands of the Province of South Australia'.
As soon as settlers arrived, it became imperative to survey land, continue sales, and establish of titles within the City of Adelaide and for farming lands. Unsurveyed lands were available for pastoral lease.
Measure of the Land
The 'Measure of the Land' describes the development of South Australia through its dependence on the early definition of land rights. The story follows the development of land surveying and land titles, including the iconic 'Torrens Title System'. It concludes with a forward look to the next 150 years.
The booklet was prepared for publication in 1986 as part of the celebration of the South Australian Jubilee 150, by the state minister for the Department of Lands.
Minister's introduction
Minister's introduction
In the rush of current affairs it is surprising to look back and see how many of the issues that interest us were topical for previous generations and how much of our thinking we owe to people who have gone before. Humans are late-corners to a landscape that has been evolving over millions of years but we have changed the landscape, deliberately and accidentally, for better and for worse. Most of the changes made in the last 150 years were controversial issues for our predecessors. The story of how they happened is largely the history of the Department of Lands.
This is an outward looking history, an account of the results of the Department's work. It is a story of surveyors, administrators, law makers and how they have affected people who work on the land and urban land owners. It tells of conflicts and steps taken to resolve them. It reflects changing attitudes to the land.
Some of the knowledge we have inherited was earned by hard and costly experience. We look at the mistakes of our forbears in the hope that our mistakes will be fewer and smaller. We take pride in their achievements and plan to build on them for the future.
The Department of Lands as it is now constituted serves four main functions: survey, sale or containing conservation and administration of Crown land, registration of land titles and valuation of real estate. This history looks at them all as they developed side by side and then merged.
The Department has made significant innovations in the past. It is still an innovative Department and will continue to take a leading part in the democratic process of determining what we are going to do with this land.
I hope you will enjoy reading this little book and I invite you to think about the issues raised in it.
R. K. Abbott
Minister of Lands
Read The Measure of the Land.
Land governance
The Department of Lands was one of the State’s most important agencies and arguably our oldest government department. It ceased to exist a few years later. However, some of the related statutory boards have moved elsewhere:
- the Pastoral Board is now attached to the Department for Environment and Water
- the Dog Fence Board is now part of PIRSA.
The statutory positions of Surveyor-General, Valuer-General and Registrar General continue. However, in 2017 the private sector entity, Land Services SA, was contracted as the exclusive provider for South Australia’s transactional land services until 2057.
For more information, read the news release – Land Services SA appointed as the exclusive service provider for land services.