VPRS 13684 Register of Deeds, Birchip

Under the Land Acts and the Mines Act, formal documents relating to Crown grants, leases and licenses needed to be forwarded, in an accountable fashion, from the main office of the Department of Crown Lands and Survey and/or the Mines Department in Melbourne to individuals throughout Victoria. For this task, as for the collection of payments such as rents, the services of local Receivers of Revenue and Paymasters were used. Often the local Clerk of Courts performed this function. In larger places such as Bendigo, Sub-Treasury Offices might be used.Originally the Registers of Deeds were maintained by the Receiver and Paymaster, Colonial Treasury. Once Deeds of Grant were signed by the Governor, they were conveyed to the Colonial Secretary and then to the Treasurer for delivery upon payment of the established fees. The Receiver and Paymaster was responsible for entering the relevant particulars in the registers, issuing the deeds to the owners or their accredited representative after the payment of fees and obtaining signatures on the registers in acknowledgment of the receipt of deeds. When Sub-Treasuries were established in non-metropolitan areas, the Receiver and Paymaster, Colonial Treasury was able to send deeds for local residents to the local Receiver and Paymaster for delivery. Later, deeds went directly to local Receipt and Pay OfficesThe Register of Deeds was used by the Receiver and Paymaster to record the documents handled and their transmission to the owner. For the Department of Crown Lands and Survey (VA 538), once licenses for the occupation of Crown Lands were approved by the Board of Land and Works (VA 774) or leases and Crown grants approved by the Governor-in-Council, details were forwarded to the Deeds Branch within the Department for the preparation and execution of documentation. Many, if not most, related to matters in areas away from Melbourne.The deeds were forwarded, with a covering circular and after advertisement in the Government Gazette, to the local Receiver and Paymaster for transmission to the licensee or lessee or grantee. The Receiver, once the deed was delivered was to return the circular to the Department notifying it of that delivery. The intended recipient was informed by a standard letter or card that the deed was available for collection from a specific official at a nominated place. In the original list of Land Districts and parishes, a Receiver of Revenue was nominated for each parish in the Land District. Some locations could be nominated for parishes in a number of Land Districts. Birchip was a Receipt and Pay Office for the St Arnaud Land District.Details given in the Register of Deeds are the number of the deed, the allotment and section of the land, the town or parish, the extent of the land, the name of the person receiving the deed, the date of the deed, the dates of its receipt and issue and a signature of acknowledgment of its receipt by the owner. Registers may also have filed in them correspondence from recipients requesting and giving authority for deeds to be forwarded to solicitors or banks or to be handed to someone other than the person named on them.Other documents dealt with in the same register included Certificates of Naturalization, Licenses for the occupation of Unused Roads and Water Frontages (administered by VA 669 Department of Public Works) and Eucalyptus Licenses. Further details regarding Unused Roads and Water Frontages may be found in such series as VPRS 10542 Rent Rolls Unused Roads and Water Frontages and VPRS 4683 Regional Rent Rolls, Unused Roads and Water Frontages.VPRS 13684 / P1 was previously registered as Unit 44 of VPRS 406 / P Register of Deeds.

根据《土地法案》与《矿业法案》，涉及王室授予（Crown grants）、租赁（leases）及许可（licenses）的正式文件需以可问责的方式，从位于墨尔本的王室土地与测量部（Department of Crown Lands and Survey）和/或矿业部（Mines Department）总部转发至维多利亚州各地的相关个人。无论是此项任务，还是租金等款项的收取，均需借助地方税收与薪饷接收官（Receivers of Revenue and Paymasters）的服务。地方法院书记员（Clerk of Courts）常履行此职能；在本迪戈（Bendigo）等较大地区，则可能使用分库办公室（Sub-Treasury Offices）。

契据登记册（Registers of Deeds）最初由殖民财政部（Colonial Treasury）的税收与薪饷接收官负责维护。授予契据（Deeds of Grant）经总督签署后，会转交至殖民秘书（Colonial Secretary），再由财政部长（Treasurer）在相关费用缴清后交付。税收与薪饷接收官需负责在登记册中录入相关详情、在费用缴清后向所有者或其授权代表发放契据，并获取所有者在登记册上的签收确认签名。当非都市区设立分库后，殖民财政部的税收与薪饷接收官可将本地居民的契据发送至地方接收官进行交付；后期，契据则直接送达地方收付办公室（Receipt and Pay Offices）。

税收与薪饷接收官使用契据登记册记录所处理的文件及其向所有者的传递情况。对于王室土地与测量部（VA 538）而言，一旦王室土地占用许可经土地与工程委员会（VA 774）批准，或租赁及王室授予经总督理事会（Governor-in-Council）批准，相关详情会转发至该部内的契据分支（Deeds Branch），以进行文件的准备与执行。此类文件即便非全部，也大多涉及墨尔本以外地区的事务。

契据会随附一份说明函，并在《政府公报》（Government Gazette）刊登公告后转发至地方税收与薪饷接收官，再传递给被许可人、承租人或受让人。接收官在交付契据后，需将说明函返回至部门以通知交付完成。目标接收人会通过标准信函或卡片获知，可在指定地点向特定官员领取契据。在最初的土地区与教区列表中，每个土地区内的教区均指定了一名税收接收官；部分地点可为多个土地区的教区提供服务。伯奇普（Birchip）是圣阿诺德土地区（St Arnaud Land District）的收付办公室。

契据登记册中记录的详情包括：契据编号、土地的分配与区段、城镇或教区、土地面积、契据接收人姓名、契据日期、接收与发放日期，以及所有者的签收确认签名。登记册中还可能存档有接收人的函件——请求将契据转发至律师或银行，或授权交付给契据上所列姓名以外的人员。

同一登记册中处理的其他文件包括归化证书（Certificates of Naturalization）、闲置道路与滨水区域占用许可（由VA 669公共工程部管理）及桉树许可（Eucalyptus Licenses）。关于闲置道路与滨水区域的更多详情，可查阅VPRS 10542《闲置道路与滨水区域租金册》及VPRS 4683《区域闲置道路与滨水区域租金册》等系列文件。

VPRS 13684/P1此前曾登记为VPRS 406/P《契据登记册》的第44单元。