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Series VPRS 405
Register of Applications for Certificates of Title
About this Series Related Series Accessing the records in this Series
Date Range: Series 1862 - 1964
  Series in Custody 1862 - 1964
  Contents 1862 - 1964
Public Access: Open
Location: North Melbourne
Format of Records: Physical
 
Agency which created this SeriesAgency which created this Series
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Date Range Agency Title Agency Number
1862 - 1864 Registrar-General's Department VA 2889
1864 - 1866 Commissioner of Titles Office VA 2926
1866 - 1873 Office of Titles VA 2888
1873 - 1964 Office of the Registrar-General and the Office of Titles, (known as Land Victoria from 2001 to ct.) VA 862
Agency currently responsible for this SeriesAgency currently responsible for this Series
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Date Range Agency Title Agency Number
1873 - cont Office of the Registrar-General and the Office of Titles, (known as Land Victoria from 2001 to ct.) VA 862
Description of this SeriesDescription of this Series
  • How to use the Records
    Applications for certificates of title were registered in chronological order. Access to entries in this register is by application number or date of application. For applications lodged and registered prior to 10 February 1904 this number can be obtained from VPRS 16705 Index to Applications for Certificates of Title.

    Researchers wishing to access entries by surname (after 10 February 1904) or by location will need to consult charts and other finding aids at the Office of the Registrar General and the Office of Titles. There may also be references to application numbers marked on certificates of title.

    The application number is required for researchers to consult the application files contained in VPRS 460.

  • Function / Content
    This series consists of a register of applications for certificates of title for land which was alienated from the Crown prior to 2 October 1862. From that date the Real Property Act 1862 (25 VIC., No.140) introduced the Torrens System of Land Registration. The Torrens System provided that a single authoritative certificate of title which proved ownership of land would replace the earlier, cumbersome, old law system. Owners of land alienated prior to 2 October 1862 could apply to have a certificate of title issued.

    The process of granting applications was often long and involved. Applications were examined by surveyors and legal examiners to determine that no hindrance to clear title existed. Applicants were required to prove legal transfer of ownership from the time of first alienation of the land up to the current ownership. Consequently the application files were actioned in different parts of the creating office for different times.

    The volumes in this series therefore served two basic purposes. Firstly they were a register of application numbers and secondly they served as a file movement and application status register. Information recorded includes application number and date of application, name of applicant, description of the land, value of land as well as other information relating to various stages which were required to be completed in the application process including the issue of the certificate of title. Applications for certificates of title were allocated a single registration number in chronological order by date of application. The application number was used to control a series of files containing documentation lodged to support the application.

    The application files which are registered by this series have been transferred into archival custody as VPRS 460, Applications For Certificates of Title.

    The first volume of the register has fewer columns than the subsequent volumes. It also contains an index to surnames of applicants whose applications were registered in the first volume. These are application numbers 1 to 1091 registered from October 1862 to 30 July 1866. Subsequent volumes do not contain an internal index.

    Indexes arranged in alphabetical order by surname were also created up to at least 10 February 1904 and are held as VPRS 16705. The existence of additional indexes is currently unknown.

    Basic details of each application were also recorded in other volumes, also known as Titles Application Books, which give summary particulars of each application. The information in these volumes includes: number of application, date received, name of applicant, parish, section and allotment of land, and number of volume and folio in which title was recorded. Entries are arranged sequentially by application number. The Titles Application Books were still in the custody of the Land Titles Office in 1996. It is believed that the Books cover the same date range as the Register.

    The format of the register for applications for certificates of title (the records in this series) changed on 29 July 1964. A card register of applications numbers and file movements was used from 1964 to 1983. From 1983 to the present time (1996) the register was computer based.

    The whereabouts of the card register was not known by Bill Harrop, Manager, Register Book, Land Titles Office, in 1996.

  • Recordkeeping System
More research resourcesMore research resources
    PROVguide055 Land Records
Indexes and RegistersIndexes and Registers
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Date Range Series Title Series Number
1885 - 1904 Index to Applications for Certificate of Title VPRS 16705
Controlled SeriesControlled Series
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Date Range Series Title Series Number
1862 - 1964 Applications for Certificates of Title VPRS 460
Previous SeriesPrevious Series
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Transfer Date Series Title Series Number
Subsequent SeriesSubsequent Series
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Transfer Date Series Title Series Number
List/s of records in this seriesList/s of records in this series
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Consignment Number Contents Date Range Public Access No. of Units
P0000 1862 - 1964 Open 18
Indexes and RegistersIndexes and Registers
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Date Range Series Title Series Number
1885 - 1904 Index to Applications for Certificate of Title VPRS 16705
More research resourcesMore research resources
    PROVguide055 Land Records

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