Electronic Edition published 2012 by Graeme Butler & Associates, Alphington.
In the preface to Pastures New, an Account of the Pastoral Occupation of Port Phillip, promise was made of a second publication to contain a record of all holdings under depasturing licences. This volume is its fulfilment. The first part gives the names of the pastoral licensees; and in the second part (commencing on page 145), particulars of the runs which they occupied are given. A map showing boundaries of the runs is inserted at the end of the volume.
The story of the pastoral development of the State of Victoria by its pioneer graziers cannot be appreciated to the full without some account of their legal standing and the official attitude towards them. In Pastures New such an account is given at some length. Here a much condensed account is all that space will permit. The lists following contain no holding that was not in existence during the sixteen years extending from 1834 to 1851, from the earliest settlement to the proclamation of the separate colony of Victoria.
Prior to 1855, the lands of Australia were held to be the property of the Crown, as represented by His Majesty's Government in London. Occupation of them, save by purchase or free grant, was not authorised until 1833, when Acts of the Legislative Council in Sydney placed the "squatters" under the control of Commissioners of Crown Lands, known by the abbreviated designation of C.C.L.