VPRS 13693 Register of Deeds, Kerang

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 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. Kerang was a Receipt and Pay Office for the Kerang 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 the 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 13693 / P1 was previously registered as Units 112 and 113 of VPRS 406 / P Register of Deeds.

根据《土地法》与《矿业法》，涉及王室土地授予证书、土地租赁协议及占用许可证的正式文件，需以可追溯问责的方式，从墨尔本的王室土地与测量部（Department of Crown Lands and Survey）或矿业部（Mines Department）总部，转交给维多利亚州全境的相关主体。
与租金收缴等工作同理，此项任务需依托当地税收收款员兼出纳员（Receiver and Paymaster）的服务，该职务常由当地法院书记员兼任。在本迪戈等较大城镇，则可使用国库分库办事处（Sub-Treasury Offices）。
最初，地契登记簿（Registers of Deeds）由殖民财政部（Colonial Treasury）的税收收款员兼出纳员负责维护。王室土地授予证书经总督（Governor）签署后，需先移交殖民地秘书（Colonial Secretary），再交由财政大臣（Treasurer），待缴纳规定规费后方可交付。税收收款员兼出纳员负责将相关信息录入登记簿，在规费缴清后将地契发放给权利人或其授权代表（accredited representative），并在登记簿上留存权利人的收讫签名。
当非都会地区（non-metropolitan areas）设立国库分库后，殖民财政部的税收收款员兼出纳员可将当地居民的地契转交至当地税收收款员兼出纳员进行交付。后续，地契可直接寄送至当地收付办事处（Receipt and Pay Office）。
地契登记簿用于记录税收收款员兼出纳员经手的文件及其转交权利人的流程。对于王室土地与测量部（VA 538）而言，若王室土地占用许可证经土地与工程委员会（VA 774，Board of Land and Works）批准，或租赁协议、王室土地授予证书经内阁总督（Governor-in-Council）批准，相关细节将移交至该部内部的地契科（Deeds Branch），用于文件的编制与执行。此类事项多数（即便不是全部）均涉及墨尔本以外地区的事务。
地契将随附附带通函，并在《政府公报》（Government Gazette）刊登公告后，转交至当地税收收款员兼出纳员，由其转交给被许可人（licensee）、承租人（lessee）或受赠人（grantee）。地契交付后，收款员需将通函退回原部门，以告知交付完成情况。意向收件人将收到标准通知函或卡片，告知其可前往指定地点的指定官员处领取地契。
在最初的土地分区与教区（Land Districts and parishes）名录中，每个土地分区下的每个教区均指定了一名税收收款员。部分地点可对应多个土地分区下的多个教区。基朗（Kerang）为基朗土地分区的收付办事处。
地契登记簿中记录的信息包括：地契编号、土地的宗地编号与区段（allotment and section）、城镇或教区名称、土地面积、地契持有人姓名、地契签署日期、收讫与发放日期，以及权利人确认收讫地契的签名。登记簿中还可能归档有收件人发来的信函，用于请求并授权将地契转交给律师、银行，或转交至登记姓名以外的其他人员。
该登记簿还处理其他文件，包括归化证书（Certificates of Naturalization）、闲置道路与滨水区占用许可证（Licenses for the occupation of Unused Roads and Water Frontages，由公共工程部（VA 669，Department of Public Works）管理）以及桉树采伐许可证（Eucalyptus Licenses）。关于闲置道路与滨水区的更多细节，可在VPRS 10542《闲置道路与滨水区租赁登记簿》、VPRS 4683《区域闲置道路与滨水区租赁登记簿》等档案系列中查询。
VPRS 13693 / P1此前被登记为VPRS 406 / P《地契登记簿》的第112与113单元。