Inspired law reform or quick fix? or, 'well, Mr Torrens what so you reckon now?' : a reflection on voluntary transactions and forgeries in the Torrens system

Sir Robert Richard Torrens sought to solve a problem confronting land dealings in South Australia. He did this by propelling the introduction of a system of title registration that cut proof of ownership free from the shackles of prior uncertainties or muddiness. This became known as 'the Torrens System'. This article looks at the Torrens system through the imagined eyes of Torrens himself on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the introduction of the first Real Property Act 1858 (SA). It contemplates what Torrens himself may have thought of the developments in the law of real property under 'his' Act through a reflection on voluntary transactions and forgeries.