of a fatal error in land titles throughout the colonies.
Spode had claimed and taken possession of a portion of land occupied by
Terry, who brought an action of ejectment: the jury gave a verdict in
his favour; but it was stated by counsel that both grants were
"defective and void in law."

This error had been discovered by Mr. Alfred Stephen (1829). The
secretary of state was consulted, and authority received by Arthur to
amend the form. The royal instructions had authorised the governors to
grant lands, which they had always issued in their own names, instead of
in the name of the king. The judges stated that in every case, whether
of a subject or the king, a conveyance must be made in the name of the
owner, and not of the attorney. These grants were, therefore, utterly
void. In New South Wales the defect was cured by special legislation;
but in Van Diemen's Land every grant was subject to an ordeal. Those
already issued by Arthur had been legally worded after the defect was
discovered; but the government of New South Wales continued the invalid
form, until the judgment of the court led to its revision.[173]

The importance of settling the titles to land was universally felt, but
the difficulties were not easily overcome. Prior to 1826, the Van
Diemen's Land grants were drawn up in New South Wales. They were full of
errors of all kinds: the boundaries, quantity, and names were
mis-described; the land intended for one man was conveyed to another;
inaccurate charts, on which grants were marked, multiplied mistakes; the
surveyors ran their chains over the land, and marked off five or six
farms in as many hours. They erased and altered their descriptions:
accurate measurement discovered that many were without a title to the
land in their possession, or that their grants were partly occupied by a
next neighbour. The dates of these instruments were often arbitrary, yet
they bound to cultivation and non-alienation, and often within years
already past. Some printed forms contained stipulations not applicable,
and became inoperative on the face of them: they described hundreds of
acres in excess, but stated that those beyond the king's instructions,
should be taken as not granted at all.

When Mr. Alfred Stephen pointed out the defect in form, the government
concealed the mistake until the king granted authority for correcting
the error by royal warrant, received in 1830. It now became necessary to
ascertain disputed titles.