VPRS 13735 Register of Deeds, Clunes

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. Clunes was a Receipt and Pay Office for the Ballarat 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 13735/ P1 was previously registered as Unit 60 of VPRS 406 / P Register of Deeds.

根据《土地法》（Land Acts）与《矿业法》（Mines Act），涉及皇家土地授予书（Crown grants）、租赁契约（leases）与许可执照（licenses）的正式文件，需以可稽核问责的方式，从墨尔本的部门总部转发至维多利亚州各地的相关人员。
为完成此项任务（一如收取租金等款项的工作），部门会启用本地税收接收员与付款员（Receivers of Revenue and Paymasters）的服务，此类经办工作通常也由本地法院书记员（Clerk of Courts）承担。在本迪戈（Bendigo）等较大城镇，则可使用区国库办事处（Sub-Treasury Offices）。
早期的土地契约登记簿（Registers of Deeds）由殖民财政厅（Colonial Treasury）的税收接收员与付款员负责维护。皇家土地授予书经总督（Governor）签署后，会先送交殖民大臣（Colonial Secretary），再转交财政大臣（Treasurer），待既定费用缴清后交付予受领人。税收接收员与付款员负责将相关信息录入登记簿，在受领人或其授权代表（accredited representative）缴清费用后，将契约交付予他们，并在登记簿上留存受领人的签收记录。
当非都会地区设立区国库办事处后，殖民财政厅的税收接收员与付款员可将本地居民的土地契约转交至当地税收接收员与付款员，由其代为交付。后续，契约可直接寄送至本地收款与付款办事处。
土地契约登记簿用于记录经办文件及其交付给所有人的流程。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，或租赁契约、皇家土地授予书经总督会同行政局（Governor-in Council）批准，相关细节会被送交至部门内的契约科（Deeds Branch），用于文件的编制与签署。其中多数（即便不是全部）涉及墨尔本以外地区的事务。
土地契约会随附通知函，并在《政府公报》（Government Gazette）刊登公告后，送交至本地税收接收员与付款员，再由其转交至土地占用许可持有人、租赁方或皇家土地授予受领人。契约交付后，税收接收员需将通知函返还至部门，告知契约已完成交付。意向受领人会收到标准信件或卡片，通知其可前往指定地点的指定官员处领取契约。
在最初的土地辖区与教区列表中，每个土地辖区下的每个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辖区下的多个教区服务。例如，克鲁恩（Clunes）是巴拉腊特土地辖区（Ballarat Land District）的收款与付款办事处。
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、城镇或教区名称、土地面积、契约受领人姓名、契约签署日期、契约的接收与发放日期，以及受领人签收契约的签名。登记簿中还可能存档有受领人发来的信函，请求并授权将契约转交给律师、银行，或交付给契约载明姓名以外的人员。
同一登记簿中处理的其他文件包括入籍证明书（Certificates of Naturalization）、闲置道路及滨水区占用许可（Licenses for the occupation of Unused Roads and Water Frontages，由公共工程部（Department of Public Works, VA 669）管理），以及桉树种植许可（Eucalyptus Licenses）。如需了解闲置道路及滨水区占用许可的更多细节，可查阅VPRS 10542《闲置道路及滨水区租金登记簿》、VPRS 4683《区域闲置道路及滨水区租金登记簿》等档案系列。
VPRS 13735/ P1 此前被登记为VPRS 406 / P《土地契约登记簿》的第60单元。