Deeds System and the Deeds Plans
The Deeds system was the original form of title and property registration in New Zealand and was generally recorded within large books and the boundary dimensions were often shown on plans known as Deeds Plans.
The Land Registration Ordinance Act 1841 established Deeds registry offices in New Zealand, and made provision for the registration of Crown grants of land and all subsequent deeds or other instruments by recording and entering a copy on the register. In 1842 a Conveyancing Ordinance was passed establishing the principles to be observed in the ownership of real property and any departures from the English system.
Under the Deeds system if someone wanted to know anything about a property they would need to go to see the Deeds Index, which had a list of all the information recorded by the system including the book and page number in which to find it. Then a researcher had to go to each book and find the page to investigate what had happened, then search all the records to make sure no changes were made. Many of the recorded records had a small diagram with some survey information on it. An example of a page from a Deeds book is shown below.
The main pitfall of the Deeds system was the difficulty in finding out the relevant information, and the risk that something may get over looked. In 1860 the Torrens System was introduced as an alternative to the Deeds registration system, however the Deeds system continued side by side with the Torrens system until it was supposed to be ended by the Land Transfer (Compulsory Registration) Act 1924.
Further reading: Back to Definitions home page, FAQ, Torrens System, History of Surveying in NZ
