VPRS 13852 Register of Deeds, Wonthaggi

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. Wonthaggi was a Receipt and Pay Office for the Melbourne 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 13852/ P1 was previously registered as Unit 201 of VPRS 406 / P Register of Deeds.

根据《土地法》与《矿业法》要求，与王室授予地（Crown grants）、租赁协议（leases）及许可（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发送至维多利亚州全境的相关人员。针对此项任务，一如租金等款项的收缴工作，该流程依托本地税收收件人与付款专员（Receivers of Revenue and Paymasters）的服务开展，通常由本地法院书记员承担该职责；在本迪戈（Bendigo）等较大地区，则可使用副国库办公室（Sub-Treasury Offices）的资源。
最初，土地契约登记簿（Registers of Deeds）由殖民国库的收款与付款专员（Receiver and Paymaster, Colonial Treasury）负责维护。一旦王室授予契约（Deeds of Grant）经总督签署，文件将先移交至殖民大臣，再转交至财政大臣，待相关费用缴清后完成交付。收款与付款专员需负责将相关细节录入登记簿，待费用缴清后将契约发放给土地所有者或其授权代表，并在登记簿上获取收件人签收契约的签名。当非都会地区设立副国库后，殖民国库的收款与付款专员可将本地居民的契约转交至当地收款与付款专员进行交付；后续契约可直接发送至本地收款与付款办公室（Receipt and Pay Offices）。
土地契约登记簿用于记录经办文件及其向所有者的流转情况，由收款与付款专员维护。对于王室土地与测量部（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，或租赁协议与王室授予地经总督会同行政局（Governor-in Council）批准，相关细节将被转交至部门内部的契约分支部门，用于文件的编制与执行。此类文件中，即便非全部，多数涉及墨尔本以外地区的事务。
契约将附带说明函件，并在《政府公报》（Government Gazette）刊登公告后，转交至本地收款与付款专员，由其转交给许可持有人、租赁方或受赠方。收款专员在完成契约交付后，需将说明函退回部门，以告知交付完成情况。意向收件人将收到标准信函或通知卡片，告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列表中，每个土地区域内的每个教区都会指定一名税收收件人；部分地点可被指定为多个土地区域内教区的收件点，而翁塔吉（Wonthaggi）即为墨尔本土地区域的收款与付款办公室。
土地契约登记簿中记录的信息包括：契约编号、土地的地块与分区、所在城镇或教区、土地面积、契约接收人姓名、契约签署日期、契约接收与发放日期，以及土地所有者签收契约的签名。登记簿中还可存档收件人发来的相关函件，包括请求将契约转交给律师、银行，或委托他人代领（而非契约上载明的收件人）的授权函。
该登记簿同时登记的其他文件包括：入籍证书（Certificates of Naturalization）、闲置道路与滨水地带占用许可（由公共工程部Department of Public Works, VA 669管理），以及桉树采伐许可（Eucalyptus Licenses）。有关闲置道路与滨水地带的更多细节，可查阅VPRS 10542《闲置道路与滨水地带租金名册》、VPRS 4683《区域闲置道路与滨水地带租金名册》等档案系列。
VPRS 13852/P1此前被登记为VPRS 406/P土地契约登记簿的第201单元。