VPRS 13818 Register of Deeds, Nhill

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. Nhill was a Receipt and Pay Office for the Horsham and Mallee 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 13818/ P1 was previously registered as Unit 131 of VPRS 406 / P Register of Deeds. VPRS 13818/P2 was previously registered as VPRS 5305 Register of Deeds.

根据《土地法》（Land Acts）与《矿业法》（Mines Act），与王室土地授予书（Crown grants）、租约（leases）及许可证（licenses）相关的正式文件，需以可追溯的方式从墨尔本的部门总部转发至维多利亚州（Victoria）全境的相关个人。与租金收缴等工作一样，该任务借助了地方税收征收员（Receivers of Revenue）与薪资管理员（Paymasters）的服务，当地法院书记员（Clerk of Courts）也常承担此项职能。在本迪戈（Bendigo）等较大地区，则可使用附属国库办事处（Sub-Treasury Offices）。
最初，土地契约登记簿（Registers of Deeds）由殖民财政部（Colonial Treasury）的税收征收员与薪资管理员负责维护。王室土地授予书经总督（Governor）签署后，会先移交至殖民大臣（Colonial Secretary），再转交财政大臣（Treasurer），待缴纳规定费用（established fees）后交付。税收征收员与薪资管理员负责将相关信息录入登记簿，在缴纳费用后将契约发放给所有人或其授权代表（accredited representative），并在登记簿上获取收件签收签名。
当非都会地区设立附属国库办事处后，殖民财政部的税收征收员与薪资管理员可将本地居民的契约转交当地税收征收员与薪资管理员，由其完成交付。后续，契约会直接送达地方收款与办公处。
土地契约登记簿由税收征收员与薪资管理员用于记录所处理的文件及其向所有人的流转情况。对于王室土地与测量部（Department of Crown Lands and Survey, VA 538）而言，一旦王室土地占用许可证经土地与工程委员会（Board of Land and Works, VA 774）批准，或租约、王室土地授予书经总督会同行政局（Governor-in Council）批准，相关细节便会移交至该部门内的契约科（Deeds Branch），用于文件的编制与执行。其中多数（若不是全部）涉及墨尔本以外地区的事务。
契约会随附封套通函，并在《政府公报》（Government Gazette）刊登公告后，转交当地税收征收员与薪资管理员，再由其转交给被许可人（licensee）、承租人（lessee）或受授地人（grantee）。契约交付后，税收征收员需将通函退回部门，告知交付情况。意向收件人会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。
在最初的土地分区（Land Districts）与教区（parishes）列表中，每个土地分区下的每个教区都会指定一名税收征收员。部分地点可同时为多个土地分区下的教区服务。尼希尔（Nhill）即为霍舍姆与马利土地分区（Horsham and Mallee Land Districts）的收款与办公处。
土地契约登记簿中记录的信息包括：契约编号、土地的地块（allotment）与区段（section）、城镇或教区名称、土地面积、契约领取人姓名、契约签署日期、契约接收与发放日期，以及所有人的收件签收签名。登记簿中还可能附带收件人提交的往来信函，用于请求并授权将契约转交给律师、银行，或交付给契约载明人员以外的其他人。
该登记簿处理的其他文件包括入籍证书（Certificates of Naturalization）、闲置道路与滨水区（Unused Roads and Water Frontages）占用许可证（由公共工程部（Department of Public Works, VA 669）管理），以及桉树许可证（Eucalyptus Licenses）。有关闲置道路与滨水区的更多详情，可查阅VPRS 10542《闲置道路与滨水区租金登记簿》、VPRS 4683《区域闲置道路与滨水区租金登记簿》等档案系列。
VPRS 13818/P1原登记为VPRS 406/P《土地契约登记簿》的第131单元。VPRS 13818/P2原登记为VPRS 5305《土地契约登记簿》。