MILITARY AND NAVAL SETTLERS.

Colonial Secretary’s Office,
Auckland, 3rd August, 1863.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to direct the publication, for general information, of the following Conditions upon which Land situated in the Waikato District will be granted to Military and Naval Settlers.

Alfred Domett.

NEW ZEALAND.

CONDITIONS upon which land situate in the Waikato Country, in the Province of Auckland, will be granted to Military and Naval Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, Privates, Marines, and Seamen of Her Majesty’s Service, who may be desirous of becoming settlers willing to perform the after-mentioned military services:—

1. Every non-commissioned officer, private, marine, and seaman, must produce to an Officer appointed by the Governor, a certificate from the officer under whom he may have served, of good conduct, and also a certificate from a Surgeon approved of by the Governor, of good health and general fitness for the service.

2. Every settler will be required to sign a declaration and agreement to the effect that he understands, and will be bound by and fulfil these conditions.

3. He will be enrolled according to his rank in the army or navy, and required to serve in the Militia, and he will be entitled to pay, rations, and allowances accordingly, until he is authorised by the Government to take possession of his land, when he will be relieved from "actual service."

4. Settlements will be surveyed and marked out at the expense of the Government.

5. Each settlement will comprise not less than 100 town allotments and 100 farm sections.

6. A stockade on the most eligible site in each settlement will be erected at the expense of the Government.

7. A town will be laid out around, or as near as conveniently may be to the stockade, in one acre allotments.

8. Farms will be laid out around, or as near as conveniently may be to the town. The size of the farm section allotted to each will be according to his rank in the Army:

• To a Field Officer ... 400 acres
• Captain ... 300 "
• Surgeon ... 250 "
• Subaltern ... 200 "
• Sergeant ... 80 "
• Corporal ... 60 "
• Private ... 50 "

—And like quantities to corresponding ranks in the Navy.

9. Every settler under these conditions will be entitled to one town allotment, and one farm section.

10. Priority of choice for each rank will be determined by lot.

11. After taking possession he will be entitled to receive rations, free of cost for twelve months, upon the same scale as supplied to Her Majesty’s troops; he will be allowed to retain possession, as a militiaman, of his arms and accoutrements, and he will be supplied with ammunition for use according to militia regulations.

12. No settler after taking possession will be permitted during the first three years after his enlistment in the Militia to absent himself from his settlement for more than one calendar month in any one year, without the leave of the Governor first obtained.

13. During such three years he will be liable to be exercised as a Militiaman; and whenever a portion only of the Militia shall be called out for actual service, each settler shall be deemed to be a Volunteer Militiaman, and will be required to serve as such in the Province. During such service he will be entitled to the same pay, rations, and allowances as other Militiamen.

14. On the expiration of three years from his enrolment, each settler, having fulfilled the conditions, but not otherwise, will be entitled to a Crown Grant of the town allotment and farm section allotted to him, and will thenceforth be subject only to the same Militia services as other colonists.

15. In the case of any officer or man who shall have served in the present war, the three years will be allowed to be reckoned from the day on which such service commenced.

16. Any settler will be permitted to dispose of his land to any person approved of by the Government; and such person undertaking to be subject to the same liabilities, will be entitled to the same privileges as the settler whose place he takes.

17. In case of the death of any settler before he shall have become entitled to his Crown Grant, the land to which he is entitled will be granted to his wife or children, or to such other person as he shall by writing appoint; or, may be taken for the location of another settler under these conditions or for any other purpose, but the value thereof in such latter case will be determined by valuation, and the amount paid by the Government to the settler’s widow or children, or other person appointed as aforesaid.