a party to this agreement and did not agree to a corresponding realignment of its border with South Australia. The "Disputed Territory" as it was termed between the surveyed border and the actual 141st meridian contained over 500 square miles (1295 km2) of land. By 1849, 47% of it had already been sold freehold or leased out by the Victorian Government. If the more accurate border had been adopted, Victoria would not have owned the land to be able to sell or lease it. This was the beginning of the battle of the Disputed Territory, a bone of contention which was to last for more than forty years. Legal dispute The South Australian Government did not let the matter rest. In 1874 it suggested the value of the land was about £800,000. Between 1883 and 1893 South Australia sent more than 70 letters or telegrams to Melbourne seeking Victorian relinquishment or financial redress. There were many futile conferences. The nearest to an agreement between the two states was in 1908. Then it was decided, subject to ratification by Parliament, that £215,000 should be regarded as compensation to South Australia. Parliament did not ratify the proposal, nor did anything come of the 1909 South Australian premier's plan to send surveyors to subdivide some of the land on the east of White's marked border, the last "legally proclaimed" border. South Australia finally abandoned all hope of settlement, due to Victoria's intransigence, and in 1911 it sued in the original jurisdiction of the High Court only to have its suit dismissed. In 1914, it resorted to an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council which ruled in favour of Victoria. Serviceton When the railway line was built from Melbourne to Adelaide, Serviceton station was built in the disputed territory and paid for equally by both governments to provide a place for the exchange of locomotives and crews. While the station is no longer used, the building remains in the tiny town of Serviceton. See also Port Phillip District References Further reading Chappel, K. L., Surveying for land settlement in Victoria 1836-1960, survey of the Vic-NSW boundary, survey of the Vic-SA boundary, Office of Surveyor General (1996) , also in History of South Australia History of Victoria (Australia) Borders of South Australia South Australian border High Court of Australia cases Judicial Committee of the Privy Council cases on appeal from Australia Victorian