VPRS 13857 Register of Deeds, Mildura

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 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. Mildura was a Receipt and Pay Office for the Mallee 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 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 13857/ P1 was previously registered as Unit 128 of VPRS 406 / P Register of Deeds.

根据《土地法》与《矿业法》要求，需以可追溯且合规的规范方式，将与王室授地（Crown grants）、土地租赁（leases）及许可（licenses）相关的正式文件，从设于墨尔本的部门总部转交给维多利亚州全境的相关人员。与租金收缴等款项征收工作同理，该文件流转任务可依托本地税收征收员（Receivers of Revenue）与出纳员（Paymasters）的服务完成，此类工作通常由本地法院书记员（Clerk of Courts）承担；在本迪戈（Bendigo）等较大城镇，则可启用国库分局（Sub-Treasury Offices）开展工作。

早期，土地契约登记簿（Registers of Deeds）由殖民财政部（Colonial Treasury）的税收征收员与出纳员负责维护。王室授地契约经总督（Governor）签署后，需先移交至殖民大臣（Colonial Secretary），再转交财政大臣（Treasurer），待缴纳既定费用后方可完成交付。税收征收员与出纳员需负责将相关细节录入登记簿，在受领方或其授权代表（accredited representative）缴纳费用后向其发放契约，并在登记簿上留存签收签名以确认契约已被收取。当非都会地区设立国库分局后，殖民财政部的税收征收员与出纳员可将本地居民的契约转至当地税收征收员与出纳员处完成交付。后续，契约可直接寄送至本地收付办事处（Receipt and Pay Offices）。

土地契约登记簿用于记录税收征收员与出纳员经手的全部文件及其向所有者的转交情况。对于王室土地与测量署（Department of Crown Lands and Survey，档案编号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，档案编号VA 774）批准，或土地租赁、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部门内的契约科（Deeds Branch），用于文件的编制与执行。此类事项大多涉及墨尔本以外地区的相关事务。

契约将随附通知函，并在《政府公报》（Government Gazette）刊登公告后，转交至本地税收征收员与出纳员，由其转交给被许可人、承租人或受授地人。契约完成交付后，税收征收员需将通知函退回原部门，告知交付完成情况。意向收件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。

在最初的土地区域与教区名录中，每个土地区域下的教区均指定了一名税收征收员。部分地点可对应多个土地区域内的教区。米尔迪拉（Mildura）是马利（Mallee）土地区域的收付办事处。

土地契约登记簿记录的信息包括：契约编号、土地的地块与区段信息、城镇或教区名称、土地面积、契约受领人姓名、契约签署日期、契约的接收与发放日期，以及所有者的签收签名。登记簿中还可能存档有收件人发来的信函，此类信函用于请求并授权将契约转寄至律师事务所、银行，或交由登记姓名以外的人员代收。

该登记簿同时处理的其他文件包括：入籍证书（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，由公共工程部（Department of Public Works，档案编号VA 669）管理），以及桉树采伐许可（Eucalyptus Licenses）。关于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记录》、VPRS 4683《区域闲置道路与滨水区租金记录》等档案系列。

VPRS 13857/ P1原登记为VPRS 406 / P《土地契约登记簿》的第128单元。