Block is an Australian term for a small agricultural landholding. Block settlement has been used by Governments to encourage decentralization and during financial depressions to give families of unemployed workers an opportunity (frequently illusory) to become primary producers. It may also refer to a lifestyle choice or "hobby farm" for those with an independent source of income.
In parts of Australia, parcels of land of around were allocated by Government to working-class men at nominal rent during the
depression of the 1890s with the object of giving them work and, potentially, a source of income. Some eventually prospered, but those on marginal land were doomed to failure. Proponents of the "block system" included
George Witherage Cotton. Holders of such allotments were referred to as "blockers" or "blockies".
[W. S. Ramson (editor) ''The Australian National Dictionary'' page 65. ]Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, Melbourne, 1988
See also
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Village Settlements (South Australia)
The Village Settlements were communes set up by the South Australian government under Part VII of the ''Crown Lands Amendment Act 1893'', a scheme intended to mitigate the effects of the depression that was affecting the Colony. It followed the N ...
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Soldier settlement (Australia)
Soldier settlement was the settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under soldier settlement schemes administered by state governments after World War I and World War II. The post-World War II settlement ...
References
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1890s in Australia
Australian English
Settlement schemes in Australia
Rural culture in Oceania