VPRS 1222 Register of Deeds , Melbourne

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 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 Offices. This series consists of the Registers of Deeds kept by the Receipt and Pay Office, Colonial Treasury and later, as that maintained for Melbourne. Records in this series may relate to both the whole of Victoria and the Melbourne Land District.The 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.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 deed 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 1222 / P1 was previously registered as Unit 127 of VPRS 406 Register of Deeds.

根据《土地法》与《矿业法》要求，需以可追责的方式，将与王室授地（Crown grants）、租赁契约（leases）及许可（licenses）相关的正式文件，从本部门位于墨尔本的总办事处，转交给维多利亚州全境的相关个人。与租金收缴等工作同理，此项任务需借助当地税收收款员兼出纳员（Receivers of Revenue and Paymasters）的服务，该职务通常由当地法院书记员（Clerk of Courts）兼任；在本迪戈（Bendigo）等较大城镇，则可使用分区金库办事处（Sub-Treasury Offices）。早期，土地契约登记册（Registers of Deeds）由殖民财政署（Colonial Treasury）的收款员兼出纳员负责维护。王室授地契约经总督（Governor）签署后，需先移交至殖民大臣（Colonial Secretary），再交由财政大臣（Treasurer），待缴纳规定费用后交付给受领人。收款员兼出纳员负责将相关信息录入登记册，并在受领人缴纳费用后，将契约发放给所有人或其授权代表（accredited representative），同时需在登记册上获取受领人签收契约的签名。当非都会区设立分区金库后，殖民财政署的收款员兼出纳员可将本地居民的契约转交至当地收款员兼出纳员，由其完成交付。后续，契约可直接送达当地收款出纳办事处（Receipt and Pay Offices）。本档案系列包含由殖民财政署收款出纳办事处维护的土地契约登记册，后续该登记册亦作为墨尔本辖区的登记册留存。本系列档案既可能涉及整个维多利亚州，也可能仅涉及墨尔本土地管辖区（Melbourne Land District）。土地契约登记册供收款员兼出纳员记录经手的文件及其向所有人的转交情况。对于王室土地与测量署（Department of Crown Lands and Survey, VA 538）而言，若王室土地占用许可经土地与工程委员会（Board of Land and Works, VA 774）批准，或租赁契约、王室授地经总督会同行政局（Governor-in Council）批准，则相关细节将被移交至本部门内的契约科（Deeds Branch），用于文件的制备与执行。此类档案大多（即便非全部）与墨尔本以外地区的事务相关。契约需附带封套通函，并在《政府公报》（Government Gazette）刊登公告后，转交至当地收款出纳办事处，由其转交给被许可人（licensee）、承租人（lessee）或受赠人（grantee）。待契约完成交付后，收款员需将通函退回原部门，以告知交付完成情况。意向受领人将收到标准信函或卡片，通知其可前往指定地点的指定官员处领取契约。在最初的土地管辖区（Land Districts）与教区（parishes）名录中，每个土地管辖区内的教区均指定了一名税收收款员。部分地点可同时为多个土地管辖区内的教区服务。土地契约登记册中记载的信息包括：契约编号、土地的地块与分区、城镇或教区名称、土地面积、契约受领人姓名、契约签署日期、契约接收与发放日期，以及受领人签收契约的签名。登记册中还可能附带来自受领人的往来信函，用于申请并授权将契约转交至律师或银行，或交由登记在册人员以外的其他人代收。本登记册中处理的其他文件包括：入籍证明书（Certificates of Naturalization）、闲置道路与滨水区占用许可（Licenses for the occupation of Unused Roads and Water Frontages，由公共工程署Department of Public Works, VA 669管理）以及桉树种植许可（Eucalyptus Licenses）。有关闲置道路与滨水区的更多细节，可查阅VPRS 10542《闲置道路与滨水区租金名册》、VPRS 4683《区域闲置道路与滨水区租金名册》等档案系列。VPRS 1222 / P1原登记为VPRS 406《土地契约登记册》的第127单元。