‘GOOD TO KNOW SERIES’ | PART 4: ‘WHAT DOES OLD SYSTEM TITLE’ MEAN?
In the first years of the NSW colony, there was no system for recording land transactions. In some cases, brief particulars of a sale were written on the back of a land grant, in many cases, ownership changed without any evidence at all.
This changed in 1802 when all parties were invited to record their land dealings, forming the first book of the ‘Old Register’.
These records were occasionally updated. It is almost impossible to relate these records to any parcel of land that exists today.
On 18 January 1817, a proclamation providing for the registration of deeds related to land with the Office of the Judge Advocate, also part of the Old Register.
The introduction of the Torrens Title System in NSW with the commencement of the Real Property Act 1863 marked the end of Old System land titles and the beginning of the system we use today.
The biggest difference between ‘Old System Title’ and ‘Torrens Title’ is that with Torrens Title, a registered interest is absolute. With Old System titles, ownership needs to be established through a chain of titles. A chain relies on various Deeds, each document being used to verify the others.