VPRS 18874 Register of Crown Grants

This series consists of registers of all Victorian land issued as Crown Grants under the General Law land system between 1838 and 1862, prior to the commencement of the Torrens System and the Real Property Act. A Crown Grant was issued by the government when a parcel of land was alienated from the Crown and became the first record in the Chain of Title. Each Crown Grant has the same basic sections of information relating to the alienation of Crown Land: Date of grant Type of Crown Grant (Town Lot, Special Land Purchase, Land Purchase and Country Land Purchase) To whom it was granted Land Description, including a metes and bounds description or diagram Consideration paid Any special Restrictions or Covenants Registration date The first land tenure system to be introduced into Victoria in March 1838 was called the 'General Law' or 'Old Law System', or more commonly called today, NUA (Not Under Act). Land under the Torrens system (Real Property Act 1862) was therefore 'under Act'. This system was directly based on the principles of the English Common Law. Under the General Law system, land ownership was based on a set of deeds, being the original deed held by the owner and a Memorial which was generally registered at the Registrar Generals Office (RGO). These documents helped prove ownership back to the original Crown Grant, although there was no compulsion under this system to register the Memorials. Title was proven by producing the collection of deeds, which was commonly called the ‘Chain of Title’ held by successive owners, as well as a search of the Memorials lodged at the RGO. Every time land changed hands, the chain of deeds needed to be produced and a new conveyance deed/Memorial needed to be drawn up by lawyers. It was a cumbersome and expensive system, in which the risk of deeds being lost or destroyed was high. Land ownership in the General Law system was and is still not guaranteed by the Victorian government. Access to this series is through VPRS 18875 Crown Grant Index. The index lists Grant holders alphabetically, both for individuals and companies.

本数据集涵盖1838年至1862年间，托伦斯土地登记系统（Torrens System）与《不动产法》（Real Property Act）施行前，维多利亚州依据普通法土地制度（General Law land system）核发的所有王室授地（Crown Grant）登记档案。当某宗土地从王室名下被出让并成为所有权链（Chain of Title）的首份记录时，政府即会核发王室授地。每一份王室授地均包含与王室土地出让相关的标准化基础信息模块，具体如下：
1. 授地日期
2. 王室授地类型（含城镇地块、专项土地购置、普通土地购置与乡村土地购置）
3. 授地对象
4. 土地描述，包括地界丈量说明或地块图示
5. 已付对价
6. 特殊限制条款或契约
7. 登记日期

1838年3月，维多利亚州引入的首套土地保有制度被称为「普通法制度」（General Law System）或「旧法制度」，如今更常简称为NUA（Not Under Act，即不受法案约束）。而依据1862年《不动产法》实施的托伦斯土地登记系统所辖土地，则属于「受法案约束」范畴，该制度直接承袭英国普通法原则。
普通法制度下，土地所有权以一系列契约文书为依据：包括产权人持有的原始契约，以及通常在总登记官办公室（Registrar General's Office, RGO）登记的备案备忘录（Memorial）。尽管该制度未强制要求备案备忘录的登记，但上述文书可用于追溯证明至原始王室授地的土地所有权。产权证明需提交由历任产权人持有的整套契约文书（即通常所称的「所有权链」），同时需检索总登记官办公室存档的备案备忘录。每一次土地权属变更时，均需出示现有所有权链契约，并由律师拟定新的转让契约/备案备忘录。该制度操作繁琐且成本高昂，且存在契约遗失或损毁的较高风险。普通法制度下的土地所有权，过去乃至如今均未获得维多利亚州政府的官方保障。
本数据集可通过VPRS 18875 王室授地索引进行检索，该索引按字母顺序罗列授地持有人，涵盖自然人与法人主体。