Robert Richard Torrens

Robert Richard Torrens
Torrens in an 1880 illustration
Premier of South Australia
In office
1 September 1857 – 30 September 1857
MonarchVictoria
GovernorRichard Graves MacDonnell
Preceded byJohn Baker
Succeeded byRichard Hanson
Treasurer of South Australia
In office
3 January 1852 – 21 August 1857
Preceded byB. T. Finniss
Succeeded byJohn Hart
Member of the House of Assembly
for the City of Adelaide
In office
3 March 1857 – 1 July 1858
Preceded byseat established
Succeeded byJudah Moss Solomon
Member of the South Australian Legislative Council
In office
21 February 1851 – 2 February 1857
UK Politics
Member of Parliament
for Cambridge
In office
10 December 1868 – 26 January 1874
Preceded byJohn Eldon Gorst
Succeeded byAlfred Marten
Personal details
Born(1812-05-31)31 May 1812
Cork, Ireland, United Kingdom
Died31 August 1884(1884-08-31) (aged 72)
Falmouth, Cornwall, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal
Parent(s)Robert Torrens and Charity Herbert (née) Chute
Alma materTrinity College, Dublin

Sir Robert Richard Torrens, GCMG (31 May 1812[1][a] – 31 August 1884),[3] 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.

  1. ^ "England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975: Robert Richard Chute Torrens, 1819". FamilySearch. 4 February 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
  2. ^ Croucher, Rosalind F. (2008) 'Delenda Est Carthago!' Sir Robert Richard Torrens and his attack on the evils of conveyancing and dependent land titles: a reflection on the sesquicentenary of the introduction of his great law reforming initiative Alex Castles Memorial Legal History Lecture for Flinders University Law School, Adelaide, 26 August 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  3. ^ John Healey, ed. (2003). S.A.'s Greats: The Men and Women of the North Terrace Plaques. Historical Society of South Australia. p. 137. ISBN 0957943008.


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