John Harvey (22 July 1821 – 22 June 1899) was a farmer, horse breeder and politician in the early days of the colony of South Australia.

He was of African descent; his father was from the island of St Helena, in the Atlantic Ocean 1900 kilometres (1200 mi) west of the coast of the south-west of Africa.

[1] When he was 18, on finishing "a good education", he emigrated to the province of South Australia on the Superb, arriving in October 1839, three years after the establishment of government by British settlers.

[2] He studied the work of a magistrate under the guidance of two eminent jurists, and for many years performed that role at the Salisbury Court.

The vital questions were the real property, district councils, Gawler railway, local court, fencing, and impounding Bills.His experience of real estate matters and the slow, tortuous and insecure processes related to title led him to advocate the sweeping land registration and transfer system devised by his parliamentary colleague Robert Torrens.

The "Torrens Title" system, as it became known, was instituted in 1858 by the Real Property Act and remains in place today, having been adopted by many countries and adapted to cover other interests such as mortgages.