South Australia Land and Property

Online Resources

 * 1835-1841 South Australia Landowners 1835-1841 at FindMyPast - index ($)
 * South Australia Government Gazettes 1867-1884, images, ($).
 * South Australia Rate Books at FindMyPast - index & images ($)

Land Titles Office
The information maintained by the Land Titles Office contains a wealth of information for family historians.

By accessing the historical information of the register book, people can research the history of a particular piece of land owned by their ancestors. You can even find death details of land owners. .

Under the Real Property Act 1886, the Registrar General maintains a register book of records in relation to land under the Torrens System. The Register Book is a public record that includes Certificates of Title and all instruments registered under the Real Property Act. Most of the register book has been computerised with 95% of the title register converted to electronic format. Not all historical information is available by a computerised search. To access historical information you will need to visit the Records Service Centre on the ground floor of the Lands Titles Office at 101 Grenfell Street to access the register which is free although printouts attract a fee.

If you are conducting a search for family history and you do not have the address you will need:


 * the full name of the ancestor
 * the timeframe in which they would have registered a land dealing such as when they bought or sold a property.

With this information you can then search the microfilm index of Real Property Act documents, dating back to 1858, to find the title reference number. Once you have the title reference number, you can view the title and trawl through documents of the Real Property Act until you find the information you require. This may require referring back to documents called NUA meaning Not Under the Act and these are documents that were registered before to the Real Property Act (aka Torrens Title System) was introduced in 1858. To view these documents you need to visit the Old System Section at Building 4A, 300 Richmond Road, Netley SA 5037 (formerly 39 Carrington Street Adelaide).

Some Real Property Act documents may not be available on site and need to be ordered from the storage facility. This could take one to two days.

Access to current records is available online via Property Assist. The system integrates land information from all State Government agencies to provide you with current information from various online databases. All you need to use the system is a:
 * suitably configured browser
 * current credit card

Land Grants

 * Governor Phillip, in 25 April 1787, was empowered to grant land to emancipists. Each male was entitled to 30 acres, an additional 20 acres if married, and 10 acres for each child with him in the settlement at the time of the grant.
 * To encourage free settlers to the colony, Phillip received additional Instructions dated 20 August 1789 entitling non-commissioned Marine officers to 100 acres and privates to 50 acres, over and above the quantity allowed to convicts.
 * Other settlers coming to the colony were also to be given grants.
 * In 1825, the sale of land by private tender began.
 * In a despatch dated 9 January 1831, Viscount Goderich instructed that no more free grants (except those already promised) be given. All land was thenceforth to be sold at public auction.

Depasturing Licenses
Settlers were permitted to occupy Crown lands for grazing purposes if they obtained a license that could be renewed annually. The first of these licenses was the Ticket of Occupation, which was granted in about 1820. These licenses gave owners rights to grazing land within two miles of their residence. Later, depasturing licenses gave owners rights to the vacant Crown lands beyond the limits of the owners’ homes. (Today, depasturing licenses can be used as census substitutes.) The applications for depasturing licenses list:


 * Name
 * Trade or calling
 * Residence
 * Land applied for
 * Marital status
 * Number of children
 * Name and condition of the person under whom stock are to be placed
 * Real or personal estate possessed by applicant

Licensing impacted not only the grazing industry, but the mining industry as well. Mining licenses began with the gold rush in 1851. Mining is still licensed today.

Soldier Settlement

 * Soldier settlement, also known as the Soldier Settlement Scheme or Soldiers Settlement Scheme, administered by the Soldier Settlement Commission, was the settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under schemes administered by the state governments after World War I and World War II.
 * By 1924, 23.2 million acres (93,900 km²) had been allotted 23,367 farms across Australia.
 * Other than supporting soldiers and sailors that were returning from those wars, the various governments also saw the opportunity of attracting both Australians and specific groups of allied service personnel to some of the otherwise little inhabited, remote areas of Australia.
 * The states took responsibility for land settlement and thus enacted separate soldier settlement schemes.
 * In addition to soldiers, nurses and female relatives of deceased soldiers were also able to apply for the scheme.
 * The procedure of supporting such soldiers was repeated after World War II with all Australian state governments.