Torlesse was born in Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk, England, in 1825. He was the eldest son of the RevCharles Martin Torlesse, who was on the management committee of the Canterbury Association. His mother Catherine Torlesse was the sister of Edward Gibbon Wakefield. Aged 16, Torlesse started a survey cadetship under his uncle Arthur Wakefield for the New Zealand Company in Nelson. He stayed in Nelson from 1841 and returned to England in 1843, after his uncle was killed in the Wairau Affray. Torlesse together with fellow surveyor Thomas Cass returned to New Zealand by the Bernica, and arrived in December 1848, to work under chief surveyor, Captain Joseph Thomas. Torlesse took up land in Rangiora where he built the area's first house. On 27 December 1851, Torlesse married Alicia Townsend in Christchurch. She was the third daughter of James Townsend, who brought his family out to the colony on the Cressy. His brother Henry Torlesse came to New Zealand in early 1853 on the Minerva and married Elizabeth Revell, a fellow passenger on that journey. The Torlesse brothers farmed together in Rangiora. Torlesse held town section 732 in trust for Felix Wakefield, a brother of Edward Gibbon Wakefield. The section fronted onto both Cathedral Square and Hereford Street. From 1863, Torlesse was in partnership with Henry Matson, and operated as land agents under the banner of Torlesse & Matson. On the evening of 4 June1864, a fire started in their building and a large number of wooden buildings were destroyed. Torlesse then bought the section of Wakefield for £1145, and commissioned builders Balke and Brouard to build a new two-storey stone building fronting onto Cathedral Square for £1124. This building was the first building made of permanent material in the Square and became known as the Torlesse Building. It was demolished in 1916, and the Strandpicture theatre was built in its place. Today, part of the land is occupied by the ANZ Bank, Strand Lane and a building housing a public toilet. Torlesse made a first ascent of a mountain in the Southern Alps, and this peak, the Mount Torlesse, was named for him. Torlesse returned to England due to ill health and died in 1866. He is buried in Stoke-by-Nayland.
