free selectionn.
/ˌfriː sᵻˈlɛkʃən/, U.S. /ˌfri səˈlɛkʃən/, Australian English /ˌfriː səˈlekʃən/ Australian. Now historical.
The acquisition of, or the right to acquire, the freehold of a tract of unalienated rural land, of a size suitable for small farming, under a scheme whereby this could be acquired on favourable terms; the scheme itself. Also: a tract of land purchased under such a scheme.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > taking possession > [noun] > of land > under government scheme
free selection1859
free-selecting1862
1859 Bell's Life in Sydney 21 May 1/1 The right of purchase of farms, surveyed or unsurveyed, without competition, and without delay, by persons willing to settle upon and improve them, and generally known as ‘Free Selection’, I have ever held to be a principle of essential importance.
1863 Sydney Morning Herald 25 Dec. In the year previous to free selection and deferred payment, that is, during the year 1861.
1870 T. H. Braim New Homes ii. 87 A man can now go and make his free selection before survey of any quantity of land..at twenty shillings an acre.
1872 A. McFarland Illawarra & Manaro 7 If there be any ‘Free-selections’ they must be confined to the base and slopes of the mountains.
1925 Eng. Hist. Rev. 40 292 In New South Wales the Robertson Acts of 1861 laid down the principle of free selection.
1956 R. G. Edwards Overlander Songbk. 81 On my little free selection I have acres by the score Where I unyoke the bullocks from the dray.
2000 G. Davison Use & Abuse Austral. Hist. xiii. 249 In 1860..Victorian radicals were campaigning for the right to free selection of small farms.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1859