<!--Before editing his date of birth, please check the (modern) references. A lot of respectable older works got it wrong-->

Sir Robert Richard Torrens, (31 May 1812 – 31 August 1884), also known as Robert Richard Chute Torrens, was an Irish-born parliamentarian, writer, and land reformer. After a move to London in 1836, he became prominent in the early years of the Colony of South Australia, emigrating after being appointed to a civil service position there in 1840. He was Colonial Treasurer and Registrar-General from 1852 to 1857 and then the third Premier of South Australia for a single month in September 1857.

Torrens is chiefly remembered as the originator of the Torrens title, a new system of land registration that subsequently spread to the other Australian colonies and is used in Australia and in many other countries throughout the world today. He secured its implementation in South Australia in 1858, and subsequently advocated for its adoption in other jurisdictions. Returning to England in 1865, he served in the British House of Commons from 1868 to 1874.

He was son of the political economist Robert Torrens, who was chairman of the London-based South Australian Colonisation Commission involved in setting up and encouraging emigration to the new colony.

Early life

Torrens was born in Cork, Ireland, on 31 May 1812. He was the only surviving son His father had this marriage nullified and in 1819 married again, to Esther Serle, an English heiress, and had his three children rebaptised to give them a form of legitimacy,

When South Australia became self-governing colony in 1856 with the ratification of a new constitution by the British parliament via the Constitution Act 1856, Torrens became Treasurer of South Australia in the ministry of Finniss

Real Property Act 1858

[[File:Robert Richard Torrens bust.jpg|thumb|left|

Bust of Robert Torrens by the sculptor John Dowie, formerly located in the Lands Titles Office, Adelaide, but now held in the South Australian Parliament Research Library]]

Torrens was elected as one of the members of the House of Assembly for the City of Adelaide in the new parliament in 1857, and on 1 September 1857 became Premier, although his government lasted only a month. The second reading of a bill introduced as a private member's bill was carried despite strong opposition, passing through both Houses on 27 January 1858.

The Act, eagerly anticipated by many, came into effect on 2 July 1858 and was on the whole well-received, apart from some lawyers who would have noted that the ease and clarity of the process would mean less in earnings for them in the future. Torrens resigned his seat in parliament and was appointed Registrar-General in order to assist with the Act's application, and in this role he did much to bring about a successful practical transition to the new system. He also helped the other colonies to introduce their own variations of the system: Queensland adopted the 1859 version, while New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria based their legislation on the 1861 reforms. New Zealand, Malaysia and some states in the US followed; which is now available in full online.

In South Australia, the Act was substantially revised in 1886, and Real Property Act 1886 (with various amendments) remains the basis of property law in South Australia.

Credit for the act

Some have challenged the notion that responsibility for the introduction of the successful system lies with Torrens, and it has been asserted that Anthony Forster, then editor of the South Australian Register, made the original suggestion. He also said that the idea was based on principles used in transferring shipping property, of which he would have gained experience in his early career as a customs official, both in London and Adelaide (1836–1852). His experience as Registrar-General (1852–1858), as a landowner himself, and the influence of politicians such as Forster and W. H. Burford and lawyers such as Richard Bullock Andrews, Henry Gawler and W. C. Belt, would have influenced him close to home. and whose doctorate in laws from Hamburg University dealt with this topic. His input added to the practical application of the method in law, and Torrens worked on this aspect further. he fought it through Parliament despite vigorous opposition from the legal profession. There he gave lectures on and lobbied for the implementation of land title legislation, with a particular focus on Ireland. but did not have the opportunity to effect the land reform which was so dear to him. It is now part of Scotch College.

  • By extension, the now Australia-wide Torrens University, which started life in the Torrens Building
  • the Canberra suburb of Torrens, name proposed by "contemporaries of Sir Robert Torrens; SA pioneers and politicians" and gazetted on 20 September 1928; suburb gazetted on 12 May 1966.
  • Torrens Terrace, a street in Wellington, New Zealand
  • Torrens Creek, Queensland, named by the explorer William Landsborough, who discovered it in 1862 while searching for Burke and Wills.

(Note: Places named after his father, Robert Torrens, are the River Torrens, the suburb of Torrensville, Lake Torrens and Torrens Island.)

There is a portrait of Torrens in the Art Gallery of South Australia, and a drawing of him in the South Australian State Archives.

Publications

Torrens authored these publications:

  • First effects of Gold discovery on the currency in the Australian Colonies
  • Anomalies in the present relations between the mother country and her colonies

List of Worldcat holdings

There are other publications, documents and letters with Torrens as author, listed in WorldCat.

Notes

References

Further reading

  • (for completeness - doesn't add anything new)

Real Property Act 1858

Political offices and roles held in South Australia and the United Kingdom

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