Registrar-General of Deeds Department, and successor agencies (GRG59)

The Registration of Deeds Act, 1841, to provide for compulsory registration of deeds, wills, judgements, conveyances and other instruments, came into operation in South Australia in March 1842. Under the Act a Registry Office was established, and Capt. Charles Sturt was appointed Registrar General and Assistant Commissioner of Public Lands in November 1841. (1)

Sturt was replaced by B.T. Finniss in 1847. (2) The growth of business transacted by the Office highlighted the inefficiency of the (legal) system of registration and conveyancing, and prompted consideration of a new system. A series of amendments was made to the Registration of Deeds Act between 1852 and 1854, but a new bill implementing what was to be known as the Torrens system was introduced only in November 1857. (3)

The Real Property Act became law in January 1858 (An Act to simplify the Laws relating to the transfer and encumbrance of freehold and other interests in Land), establishing a Lands Titles Board composed of the Registrar General and two Commissioners. All land alienated after 1 July 1858 had to be registered at the Lands Title Office. (4)

Robert Richard Torrens, who had been appointed Registrar General and Colonial Treasurer in January 1852, and was responsible for devising the new system of title registration, resigned as Registrar General in September 1865 following his election to the House of Commons. (5) He was replaced by W.B.T. Andrews, who retired in 1889, being replaced by the Deputy Registrar General, William Bacon Carter, in September 1889. (6)

The Real Property Act, 1861 and the Amendment Act of 1878 were consolidated and amended by the Real Property Act, 1886, the object of which was "to simplify the title to land, and to facilitate dealing there with, and to secure indefeasibility of title to all registered proprietors". Under this Act the Land Titles Registration Office and the department of the Registrar General were retained. (7)

From 1 July 1970 the Registrar General of Deeds Department became known as the Registrar Generals Department, incorporating the Public Actuarys Department registration branch. In 1976 the Department was amalgamated with the Lands Department, in which it became the Registrar Generals Office. (8)

By Act No. 8 of 1841 it was enacted "That from and after the first day of December next there shall be established at Adelaide a public Office for the Registration of deeds, wills, judgements, conveyances and other instruments in manner hereinafter mentioned and it shall be lawful for Her Majesty Her heirs and successors and for the Governor for the time being subject to the approbation of Her Majesty from time to time to appoint a fit and proper person as and to be called the "Registrar-General" who shall "

Thus, there came into being what later became known as the General Registry Office (no information appears to be available as to where it was situated) and the office of Registrar-General.

The first "fit and proper person" to be appointed appears to have been "William Bartley, Esq., Barrister" whose name appears in the South Australian Almanac of 1841 (compiled by James F. Bennett) at page 89.

There is no record in the Lands Titles Office of the Registrars-General from 1841 to 1857/1858 (nor does it appear to be in a compiled form elsewhere) so it may be of some interest to list these, with details of the staff employed, from records kindly researched by the Archives.

Registrar-Generals 1841-1858

1841 William Bartley (Registrar-General) John Hance (Chief Officer)

1842 Hon. Charles Sturt (Registrar-General) George Hutton Barnard (Deputy)

1843 Hon. Charles Sturt (Registrar-General) George Hutton Barnard (Deputy)

1844 Hon. Charles Sturt (Registrar-General) George Hutton Barnard (Deputy)

1845 Hon. Charles Sturt (Registrar-General) George Hutton Barnard (Deputy)

1846 J.W. McDonald (Acting Registrar-General) during Sturts absence on leave George Hutton Barnard (Deputy)

1847 Hon. Charles Sturt (Registrar-General) George Hutton Barnard (Deputy)

1848 B.F. Finniss (Acting Registrar-General) during Sturts absence on leave George Hutton Barnard (Deputy), 1 Clerk, 1 Receiver of Fees and Fines

1849 B.F. Finniss (Acting Registrar-General) during Sturts absence on leave George Hutton Barnard (Deputy), 1 Clerk, 1 Receiver of Fees and Fines

1850 B.F. Finniss (Acting Registrar-General) during Sturts absence on leave George Hutton Barnard (Deputy), 1 Clerk, 1 Receiver of Fees and Fines

1851 B.F. Finniss (Registrar-General) G.H. Barnard (1st Deputy), W.B.J. Lipson (2nd Deputy), 2 Clerks, 1 Receiver of Fees and Fines

1852 B.F. Finniss (Registrar-General) G.H. Barnard (1st Deputy), W Andrews (2nd Deputy), 4 Clerks, 1 Receiver of Fees and Fines

1853 R.R. Torrens (Torrens was also Treasurer salary 650 Pounds Sterling) G.H. Barnard (1st Deputy), W Andrews (2nd Deputy), 4 Clerks, 1 Receiver of Fees and Fines

1854 R.R. Torrens (Registrar-General) G.H. Barnard (1st Deputy), W Andrews (2nd Deputy), 4 Clerks, 1 Receiver of Fees and Fines

1855 R.R. Torrens (Registrar-General) G.H. Barnard (1st Deputy), W Andrews (2nd Deputy), 4 Clerks, 1 Receiver of Fees and Fines

1856 R.R Torrens (Registrar-General) G.H. Barnard (1st Deputy), W Andrews (2nd Deputy), 4 Clerks, 1 Receiver of Fees and Fines

1857/8 R.R. Torrens (Salary 1000 Pounds Sterling) (Registrar-General) W.B.T. Andrews (1st Deputy)
Advent of the Real Property Act. Office was re-organised to cover registration of both Real Property Act and General Registry Office instruments.

At the present time the General Registry Office is the repository for instruments registered or deposited under the following Acts:

1. Registration of Deeds Act 1935-1973
2. The Bills of Sale Act 1886-1975
3. Stock Mortgages and Wool Liens Act 1924-1975
4. Liens on Fruit Act 1923-1964
and, as a quasi - registration.

5. The Workmens Liens Act 1893-1964

1. The Registration of Deeds Act is divided into three main parts:

i) Registration
ii) Deposit
iii) Enrolment

i) Registration. This part does not apply to any instruments which relate to land which is subject to the Real Property Act 1886 and Section 10 (1) recites "Every deed, conveyance, or contract in writing other than a lease for a term not exceeding three years, and every will and every judgment (other than a judgment or recognizance entered into in the name and on account of His Majesty) where by land may be in any way affected in law or equity may be registered under this Act".

The instrument to be registered is produced, together with a memorial of the contents written or typed on paper 540 mm long by 420 mm wide - rather larger than standard document size! When registered, these are bound into registers each containing 200 registrations. There are now 538 of these registers with 47 registrations in 1976.

ii) Deposit. A deposit can best be described by quoting Section 31 (1) of the Act verbatum:

"Any person may deposit in the registry office and the registrar shall receive, for safe and perpetual custody and reference, any original or duplicate original deed, agreement, writing, assurance, map or plan which relates to or affects or may affect land within the State of by which any legal or equitable title to such land may be manifested".

In practice, these comprise:

a) Change of name declarations or deed polls (which were not expressly or individually authorised until 1962, when Section 35a was inserted into the Act). As these form the greater bulk of deposits, a separate indices was started in 1954, and moves are on foot to have these incorporated into the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, which would appear to be a more appropriate place for their registration.

b) Maps or plans lodged by i) Government Departments or ii) private individuals for leasing or other purposes. Section 31 (1) gives us the reason - "for safe and perpetual custody and reference", and by this device, extensive description of parcels is avoided in Government Gazette notices and leases and other instruments.

c) Other instruments. These can include plans and specifications, Powers of Attorney or Declarations of Trust or other instrument where the original deed could become lost.

In 1976 2411 deposits were received.

iii) Enrolment - Section 36 (2) states "The party desiring to enrol any instrument shall produce at the registry office the original instrument with a full and correct copy thereof". Enrolments are on the same size paper as Memorials (mentioned in "Registration" and like them, only relate to land not under the provisions of the Real Property Act.

Although Section 37 provides that it shall not be necessary to enter into any covenant for the production of the original instrument or to furnish any attested or other copy thereof upon the sale or other disposition of the land, this part of the Act is seldom used, the last enrolment having been received in 1961.

2. The Bills of Sale Act. The "Registration and Deposit of Assurances Act" being Act No. 27 of 1862 provided, inter alia for the registration of preferable liens on wool and all mortgage assignments and Bills of Sale of sheep cattle or horses or goods and provided that an attested copy of the instrument be bound in a book to be called "The Register of Chattels Personal".

The first Bills of Sale Act, as such, was Act No. 364 of 1885, in which reference to "The Registry" was stated to mean the General Registry Office at Adelaide and its branch registration office established at Palmerston in the Northern Territory under Act No. 135 of 1879.

The present Bills of Sale Act, prior to the passing of Consumer Protection and Transactions legislation in 1972 (with its attendant amendment to The Bills of Sale Act) played a very important part in the financial life of the State as, in credit transactions where any substantial sum was involved, the seller (or lender) protected his interest by the registration of a Bill of Sale. In a Bill of Sale, the borrower transfers and assigns the chattels the subject thereof to the lender, although retaining possession of them.

The sale of the majority of motor vehicles, whether new or second hand was covered by the registration of Bills of Sale, and registration rose to a peak of 41 303 for the year 1973 involving $77 768 000.

The amendment to The Bills of Sale Act stated that any Bill of Sale that constituted a consumer mortgage within the Consumer Transactions Act 1972 shall not be rendered void "by reason of the fact that it is not registered". Not surprisingly, this legislation caused rather a dramatic decrease in the number of registered Bills, the figure in 1976 being 3 224 involving an amount of $28 958 000. Such is the result of inflation!

3. Stock Mortgages and Wool Liens Act. Stock Mortgages and Wool Liens were covered fairly early in the history of the State by the passing of Act No. 17 of 1851 being "An Act to give a preferable lien on Wool, from season to season make Mortgages of sheep, cattle and horses valid, without delivery to the Mortgagee". It further stated that the Registrar-General or Deputy Registrar-General "shall keep a separate and distinct registry, from year to year of all such agreements.."

This Act is very similar to the Bills of Sale Act, the "stock" now including sheep, cattle, horses, pigs, goats, camels, mules and donkeys. It is rare to see a Mortgage over other than sheep or cattle! Liens on wool are almost an anomaly, as the Act provides that a Stock Mortgage covers the animal and its wool. Liens are processed along and together with Mortgages.

202 instruments were registered in 1976.

4. Liens on Fruit Act. This is the most recent of all General Registry Office Acts first coming into operation in 1923.

The incidence of these is minimal, only 10 being registered in 1976.

Basically the Act provides that the person making the advance shall be entitled to the whole of the fruit crop mentioned in the Agreement. "Fruit crop" means a crop growing, or not harvested of fruit of any kind, but, in practice at the present time seems restricted to the grape-growing industry.

A peculiarity of the Act is that it provides for a sworn copy of the agreement to be lodged with the Registrar-General of Deeds, and not the original instruments which, however, has to be produced.

5. The Workmens Liens Act. As regards the General Registry Office this has been referred to as a quasi - registration, which statement needs some qualification.

Although Section 13 of Act states "All notices of lien lodged in the General Registry Office shall be numbered consecutively and the Registrar-General shall keep an alphabetical index containing the names of all persons giving notices of liens, and of the persons named in such notices as owners or occupiers", the Act also provides for the registration of the notices on the Certificate of Title concerned. In practice this occurs in most cases, but in a few, where the occupier does not have a registered interest, they remain registered in the General Registry Office, per se.

Passed in 1893, the Act provides very briefly, that a workman, contractor or sub-contractor can claim a lien for wages (limited to four weeks wages, but not exceeding $200!) or work done or materials supplied to be used in work done to the land, and that such lien becomes a charge on the property of the owner or occupier.

Action must be commenced by the lienor in the court stipulated in the notice within fourteen days, and could lead to the issue of a Warrant of Execution for the sale of the land.

As the registration of a notice of lien enables the lienor to come a "secured creditor" in cases of bankruptcy, the incidence of builders or building companies going "bad" can easily be determined by the number of notices registered in a given period. In 1976 656 notices were registered, while in 1974 a peak of 1 023 was reached. A low of 181 is also recorded several years ago.

The General Registry Office does not operate as an autonomous body, its records are kept separate, but processing is done by the general staff of the Titles Office.

Same agency as GA 420, GA 421 and GA 787 - different system of archival control.

References:

(1) Public Service Review, 31 March 1954; GRG 24/4/1841/229-230, 239.
(2) GRG 24/6/1847/491.
(3) D. Pike The Real Property Act (reprint from Adelaide Law Review vol. 1 no. 2 [1961].
(4) Act no. 15 of 1858. It was substantially amended in 1860 and 1861. For the Registrar-Generals report on the new method of registration of titles, see Parliamentary Paper no. 149 of 1860.
(5) G.A. Jessup, Torrens of the Torrens System, Adelaide, 1950. (D 3060 (T))
(6) S.A. Government Gazette, 21 September 1865 p.848; 12 September 1889 p.1131.
(7) Act No. 380 of 1886.
(8) S.A. Government Gazette, 23 April 1970; 29 April 1976, p.2218.