What does this “Surrender” instrument mean for Ben SINGLETON?

[McGroger]

I’m gradually working my way through a large amount of images from the early NSW Registrar General, Registers of Memorials now available on ancestry involving my ancestor’s brother, Ben Singleton. They’re a bit of a tangled web but I’m understanding what most of them mean. I’m not sure about this one:

Date: 01 Jan 1823;
Nature of Instrument: Surrender;
Names of Parties: James Norton, Cyrus McArthur Doyle and Roger Murphy to Benjamin Singleton;
Witnesses: J[?] F Josephson, Walter Smith;
Description of the lands or property conveyed: [abbrev.] 300 acres at Patricks Plains;
Consideration and how paid: One thousand three hundred and forty three pounds six shillings and eight pence;
Any other particulars the case may require: [blank]

For people with access to ancestry, the image is here:

https://www.ancestry.com.au/interactive/5117/41492_330038-00028?pid=304911&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D5117%26h%3D304911%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DVcV3%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=VcV3&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.200807853.2012050335.1586585191-639484467.1581120369#?imageId=41492_330038-00028

(For people not aware of it, Ben Singleton was the founder of the town of Singleton, centred in Patricks Plains, NSW.)

I’m thinking what it means is that a portion of the (leasehold) land originally granted to Ben Singleton he later sold (re-leased) to the three people in the “Surrender”, and for some reason they failed to fulfil the conditions of that re-lease so they had to surrender the land back to him. The “Consideration” I’m thinking is the amount still owing to Ben: that is, the original price of their re-lease less the amount they had already paid to him (and perhaps plus any interest on arrears of payments?).

Could you tell me if my interpretation is correct, or otherwise set me on the right track, please.

Cheers,
Peter

[majm]

Hi,

NSW Land matters prior to the early 1860s can become complicated... but the NSW State Archives have several webinars on their website that provide good background.  If those dont help, let me know as  I have a paper copy of large pdf file put out by the Land Titles Office earlier this century giving detailed info.  Who received the initial Grant? What were the terms & Conditions,  what Quit Rent?  What upset price etc ...  have you checked Trove, particularly the Sydney Gazette, for the Announcements re Grants particularly announcements under Lachlan Macquarie's period as Governor ... 1810 - 1821....  have you looked at the NSW Col Sec Papers index for each of the people named?

Sorry,  I have stacks more questions ...

JM

[McGroger]

Thanks, JM.
I'll keep reading.
Cheers, mate.
Peter

[majm]

Hi Peter,

Are you sure of the date 1 Jan 1823?

https://rg-guidelines.nswlrs.com.au/user_guides

SURR is the usual abbreviation used in the NSW system.

The Register of Surrenders is dealt with in the third of those five guides.
Here is the link to its pdf.  There are 66 pages in that guide...  Page 17 
 https://nswlrs.com.au/getattachment/515c97fd-d3f0-4020-a394-69aaffb6a72f/Old_System_information
 

I’m gradually working my way through a large amount of images from the early NSW Registrar General, Registers of Memorials now available on ancestry involving my ancestor’s brother, Ben Singleton. They’re a bit of a tangled web but I’m understanding what most of them mean. I’m not sure about this one:

Date: 01 Jan 1823;
Nature of Instrument: Surrender;
Names of Parties: James Norton, Cyrus McArthur Doyle and Roger Murphy to Benjamin Singleton;
Witnesses: J[?] F Josephson, Walter Smith;
Description of the lands or property conveyed: [abbrev.] 300 acres at Patricks Plains;
Consideration and how paid: One thousand three hundred and forty three pounds six shillings and eight pence;
Any other particulars the case may require: [blank]

For people with access to ancestry, the image is here:

https://www.ancestry.com.au/interactive/5117/41492_330038-00028?pid=304911&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D5117%26h%3D304911%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DVcV3%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=VcV3&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.200807853.2012050335.1586585191-639484467.1581120369#?imageId=41492_330038-00028

(For people not aware of it, Ben Singleton was the founder of the town of Singleton, centred in Patricks Plains, NSW.)

I’m thinking what it means is that a portion of the (leasehold) land originally granted to Ben Singleton he later sold (re-leased) to the three people in the “Surrender”, and for some reason they failed to fulfil the conditions of that re-lease so they had to surrender the land back to him. The “Consideration” I’m thinking is the amount still owing to Ben: that is, the original price of their re-lease less the amount they had already paid to him (and perhaps plus any interest on arrears of payments?).

Could you tell me if my interpretation is correct, or otherwise set me on the right track, please.

Cheers,
Peter

Anyways, here's the shortest online version ... yes, the shortest, sorry. 

First Guide, (A brief history of the records of the Reg Gen, 27 page pdf) probably skim until you reach page 10, then quick persue, and decide if you want to skim or study...  PAUSE at page 13,  then the rest of that guide deals with from the 1860s until very recent times.

Second Guide (First Stop Guide to the Records of the Reg Gen, 24 page pdf) ... flick through this

Third Guide (Old System Information and Search Guide, 66 page pdf) SLOW DOWN, read, don't skim until at least page 18

Fourth Guide (Searching the Reg Gens Maps and Plans, 46 page pdf) I am a drafter, and I love maps and plans, 

Fifth Guide (Torrens title Info and Search Guide 30 page pdf)  ... This is for Torrens title, so from 1860s to more recent, so not of much use for 1 Jan 1823 Grants of Land under the Old System.

JM

[Crumblie]

I think that in this case instrument means a document or documents.

[McGroger]

Thanks, JM. And thanks, Chumblie.

I’m aware that the Surrender is a document, Chumblie, thank you, but I’m not sure what type of transaction the document represents in this particular case. The problem is that with title to land, words for transactions under the old (leasehold or Crown Lands) system didn’t mean exactly the same as words for transactions under the newer (Torrens Title or Real Property Act) system. So I’m not exactly sure what the parties were doing in regards to the land.

For example, “Lease and re-lease” in the old system in effect meant a sale of land, and even there the terminology isn’t  consistent in the documents I’ve viewed. At least a mortgage was called a mortgage!

JM, my eyes need resting; the date should be 1838 (not 1823!) and Cyrus McArthur Doyle should be Cyrus Matthew Doyle.

I had done a little bit of reading of the guides, but a lot of it does seem to be in the context of Torrens Title where I think the use of the word Surrender has a slightly different meaning from the word as used under leasehold title. The newer usage seems to refer largely to instances where for technical reasons an instrument was surrendered (errors/changes/etc) and reissued with the correct details).

I think my best approach will be to keep working my way through the many land transactions Ben Singleton was involved in (I’m downloading images of them anyway - although I don’t know why now; I didn’t realise there’d be so many!) and gradually an overall picture will emerge.

Thanks, again.
Peter

[majm]

Hi,

Memorial No. 24 
Surrender

So, in the column with the heading 'Names of the Parties"    There's three chaps and then 'to Benjamin Singleton'  So those three chaps are the 'from' parties.  So, in the column 'Consideration and how paid' is the amount FROM the named parties delivered TO Benjamin Singleton as he surrendered the 300 acres of land at Patrick's Plains to those three, as per the 'description of the Lands or Property conveyed'. The re-lease Ł1343/6s/8d  seems to me to be a 'full' price for that era. 

Fingers crossed,  let me know if that works out  I have been known to get A about T.   

You may need to look back into the 1820s to find when Benjamin SINGLETON was granted the land, perhaps as two grants, as it is described as two parcels on this memorial. 

JM

[majm]

NSW Government Gazette 29 April 1835  https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/230655243/12477342

Grants of Land (page 241)
The following descriptions .....  (scroll through to page 243)
86 BENJAMIN SINGLETON, 200 , Two hundred acres, parish of Wittingham, at Patrick's Plains,  bounded on the north by Brown's farm bearing east 40 chains; on the east by a line bearing south 40 chains; on the south by a line .... 
Promised by Governor Macquarie on 31st March 1821,  Quit rent  4s sterling per annum, commencing 1st January 1827.

I leave it to you to search out further 

NB Sometimes when looking for the maps/plans etc, there's an 'h' needed ... Civil Parish should be Whittingham, County of Northumberland. 

JM

[McGroger]

Hi again, JM, and thank you.

My interpretation has been different from yours but I’m keeping an open mind.

A sale as such was always recorded as a “Lease and re-lease”, sometimes described simply as that and sometimes as an “Indenture of Lease and re-lease” and sometimes as an “Absolute conveyance of lease and re-lease”. I’ve looked at a couple of dozen now concerning Ben Singleton because they record his selling of blocks of land at “Singletown” (later Singleton) to establish the town.

In the various documents it is the land that is always the subject of the transaction so it is always the land that is being conveyed from and to (not the money). (My take anyway.) So in the Surrender the land is being conveyed from the three people to Ben Singleton - but not as a sale or as a mortgage. My first thought was that Ben had previously sold the land to the three on terms and that they had somehow defaulted the terms and then surrendered it back to him. The amount is an odd one. Usually they dealt in even pounds or pounds and shillings; I haven’t seen one going down to a number of pence, even for very small portions of land. That was the reason for me thinking that perhaps the Consideration in the Surrender was accounting for the amount owing being altered because of some defalcation (e.g. an amount for interest on unpaid instalments). But I’ll need to find an original document conveying the land to the three to prove that.
Another possibility is that the Surrender is more in keeping with the later use of that term (for some sort of change or correction to be made to the details). This was at about the time that Ben starting selling off town blocks so it could be that Ben had temporarily sublet the land to the three people and then when he decided to subdivide the land he advised them that he was resuming occupation of the land and the Surrender recognised that reoccupation.

Or it may have something else to do with the subdivision.

Or it may have nothing to do with the subdivision.

The trouble with Crown Land title is that there was no one document showing ownership with transactions recorded on it (Certificate of Title). All documents recorded one transaction only (conveyance/lease/mortgage etc) so to evidence ownership you had to have the full “chain of title” which could contain dozens and dozens of documents.

I used to work in a bank and in rural areas so I had some experience with different land titles (many farms still had not been fully converted to Torrens Title in my time) but I hadn’t come across the term Surrender used in the way it is in that transaction. I’ll keep wading through the various images and read up a bit more on the timeline of Ben’s activities. It will become clear eventually. It will, it will!

Thanks again, very much, for your help and thoughtful advice, JM.

Cheers,
Peter