biography
| name: |
Torrens, Sir Robert Richard
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| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1814–84)
|
| biography:
| Legal reformer, born in Co Cork, S Ireland. He emigrated to Australia in 1839, became collector of customs (1841), colonial treasurer and registrar general of South Australia (1852), and a member of the Legislative Council. Leading a movement for the reform of titles to land, he sponsored the Real Property Act of 1857 which introduced the Torrens system, whereby title to land was secured by registration. He became the first registrar general under the new system, which was widely adopted in Australia, New Zealand, and in some states of the USA. He returned to England in 1863, serving in Parliament (1868–74). He was knighted in 1872. |
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