Robert Torrens 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
River Torrens inundated to The Parade, Adelaide to Pirie and Rundle Streets, and many areas west of the city were left in a shallow lake. The river ran deep over the weir near Thorndon Park Reservoir, over the Torrens Lake Weir and over the Morphett Street Bridge. The Underdale (or Holbrooks) Bridge was destroyed, the Torrens Lake weir's bridge damaged, and the Felixstow Bridge over the Fourth Creek washed away. The first European sighting of the river was in November 1836 by an exploration party comprising Lieutenant W.G. Field, John Morphett and George Strickland Kingston. The river was named "The Yatala" by