Closer Settlement
Subdivisions of the land came about because it was the Governments firm intention to promote the growth of wheat, which had been grown extensively since colonisation, and it was believed that the more wheat grown the sooner the population would increase. To encourage the expansion of agriculture, the land was surveyed into Hundreds, and subdivided into sections ready for sale after the pastoralist had been given three months notice of resumption.
The demand for land grew, and before artificial fertilisers were introduced, continued cropping gradually impoverished the land. The Hundreds were subdivided into farms of approximately eighty acres which could be purchased only at cash auctions. However, this auction system often ran prices up far beyond the set price of £1 per acre, meaning the hard-working farmer had no chance against the speculators who could afford to pay much higher prices. This resulted in the Strangways Act of 1869 to limit the amount of land available to one purchaser to three hundred and twenty acres. This meant that the Marchants lost some of their land, and was subdivided and sold as smaller lots.
In 1872, settlers began to arrive on their blocks after the first sales of land on credit agreement. This agreement was under the terms of the Strangway's Act, including:
- a maximum of 640 acres on one block
- payment of twenty percent to be made on the fall of the hammer with the balance due at the end of four years
- the purchaser was legally bound to occupy their land within six months of purchase and reside there until purchase was finalised
It was on this approval by the government on the sale of land on credit and the right to purchase a larger acreage per individual, which led to the new era in land settlement.
Over Time
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