Robert Torrens

Sir Robert Richard Torrens, (1 July 1814 – 31 August 1884) was an Irish-born parliamentarian, writer, and reformist. He was prominent in the early years of the Colony of South Australia, initially as a civil servant and then as a political officeholder. He was Colonial Treasurer from 1852 to 1857 and then Premier of South Australia for a single month in September 1857. Torrens is chiefly remembered as the originator of the Torrens title, a system of land registration. He secured its implementation in South Australia in 1858, and subsequently advocated for its adoption in other jurisdictions. He eventually moved to England and served in the British House of Commons from 1868 to 1874.