VPRS 13694 Register of Deeds, Swan Hill

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. Swan Hill 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 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 13694/ P1 was previously registered as Units 167 and 168 of VPRS 406 / P Register of Deeds.

根据《土地法》与《矿山法》要求，需以可问责的方式，将与王室授地、租赁及许可相关的正式文件，从墨尔本的部门总办事处转发至维多利亚州各地的相关人员。此项工作与租金等款项的收取工作一样，均会借助当地税收接收员与出纳员的服务，通常当地法院书记员也会承担该职能。在本迪戈等较大区域，则可使用分区金库办事处开展相关工作。

最初，契约登记册由殖民财政部的税收接收员与出纳员负责维护。一旦授地契约经总督签署，便会先转交至殖民秘书，随后送至财政部长处，待规定费用缴清后交付给受让人。税收接收员与出纳员需在登记册中录入相关详情，待费用缴清后将契约发放给业主或其授权代表，并在登记册上获取签收记录，以确认契约已完成交付。当非都会地区设立分区金库后，殖民财政部的税收接收员与出纳员可将当地居民的契约寄送至当地税收接收员与出纳员处，由其完成交付。后续，契约将直接寄送至当地收款与出纳办事处。

契约登记册用于记录税收接收员与出纳员所处理的文件，以及文件转交至业主的相关情况。对于王室土地与测量局（VA 538）而言，若王室土地占用许可经土地与工程委员会（VA 774）批准，或租赁与王室授地经总督会同行政局批准，相关详情便会转交至该局内的契约科，以准备并拟定相关文件。其中多数（若非全部）事务均涉及墨尔本以外的区域。

契约会附带通知通函，并在《政府公报》刊登公告后，寄送至当地税收接收员与出纳员，由其转交至被许可人、承租人或受让人。税收接收员完成契约交付后，需将通函退回至原部门，以告知交付完成情况。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特定官员处领取契约。

在最初的土地区域与教区列表中，每个土地区域内的教区都会指定一名税收接收员。部分地点可同时为多个土地区域内的教区提供服务。天鹅山便是凯朗土地区域的收款与出纳办事处。

契约登记册中记录的详情包括：契约编号、土地的地块与区段、所属城镇或教区、土地面积、契约领取人姓名、契约签署日期、契约的接收与发放日期，以及业主签收确认收到契约的签名。登记册中还可能存档有收件人发来的信函，请求并授权将契约转发给律师或银行，或交给登记姓名以外的其他人。

该登记册同时处理其他类型的文件，包括入籍证明书、闲置道路与滨水地带占用许可（由公共工程部VA 669管理）以及桉树采伐许可。关于闲置道路与滨水地带的更多详情，可在VPRS 10542《闲置道路与滨水地带租金记录册》、VPRS 4683《区域闲置道路与滨水地带租金记录册》等档案系列中查询。VPRS 13694/P此前被登记为VPRS 406/P《契约登记册》的第167与168单元。