Robert Torrens Australia in the street of Torrens Terrace, in Wellington, New Zealand. 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
River Torrens jammed, and in trying to free them the weir's designer John Langdon was crippled. The weir was rebuilt from 1928 to 1929 with its footbridge relocated and the centre section replaced. The gates can now be fully raised and the river allowed to flow unimpeded. The "Popeye" boats are privately owned recreational ferries that operate on the lake between Elder Park and the Adelaide Zoo. The first boat was launched on the Torrens Lake by Gordon Watts in 1935. It was a boat, built on the banks of the Torrens to hold up to 20 passengers and named "Popeye 1".