Torlesse was born in Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk, England, in 1825. He was the eldest son of the Rev Charles Martin Torlesse, who was on the management committee of the Canterbury Association. His mother Catherine Torlesse was the sister of Edward Gibbon Wakefield.
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.
The Torlesse brothers farmed together in Rangiora. Torlesse held town section (TeamSpeak) 732 in trust for Felix Wakefield, a brother of Edward Gibbon Wakefield.
The section fronted onto both Cathedral Square and Hereford Street. On the evening of 4 June 1864, 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. lieutenant was demolished in 1916, and the Strand picture theatre was built in its place. Today, part of the land is occupied by the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Bank (itself due to be demolished due to earthquake damage), 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 1,961 metres (6,434 ft) 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.
