Intentions to Marry, 1912 Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840450, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1912 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Gisborne (1912a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1912b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1912c).

Page 016

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 June 1912 Registrar William Wuisbury White

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

641

4 May 1912

Albert Berrison
Minnie Alice Bayliss

Albert Bennison
Minnie Alice Bayliss
💍 1912/3772

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

25
24

Seafield
Rakaia

25 years
2 months

Presbyterian Church

12/3584

4 May 1912

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	641
Date of Notice	4 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Berrison	Minnie Alice Bayliss
BDM Match (93%)	Albert Bennison	Minnie Alice Bayliss
	💍 1912/3772
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Seafield	Rakaia
Length of Residence	25 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	12/3584
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

642

10 May 1912

George Bertram Ashley
Ada Catherine Mary Smart

George Bertram Ashley
Ada Catherine Mary Smart
💍 1912/3748

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Nurse

52
29

Waipukurau
Ashburton

3 months

At the residence of J. W. Stewart, Grey Street, Ashburton

12/3484

10 May 1912

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	642
Date of Notice	10 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Bertram Ashley	Ada Catherine Mary Smart
	💍 1912/3748
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Nurse
Age	52	29
Dwelling Place	Waipukurau	Ashburton
Length of Residence		3 months
Marriage Place	At the residence of J. W. Stewart, Grey Street, Ashburton
Folio	12/3484
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

643

14 May 1912

Albert James Milliner
Mary Palmer

Albert James Milliner
Mary Palmer
💍 1912/5637

Professional Bachelor
Spinster

Golfer
dress-maker

35
35

St. Clair
Ashburton

3 days
15 years

Baptist Church

12/3479

14 May 1912

Rev. James Ings

No	643
Date of Notice	14 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert James Milliner	Mary Palmer
	💍 1912/5637
Condition	Professional Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Golfer	dress-maker
Age	35	35
Dwelling Place	St. Clair	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church
Folio	12/3479
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Ings

644

25 May 1912

Samuel Skilling
Mabel Edith Gillispie

Samuel Skilling
Mabel Edith Gillespie
💍 1912/3728

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
domestic duties

29
21

Wheatstone
Wheatstone

29 years
21 years

Presbyterian Church

12/3478

25 May 1912

Rev. J. A. Brown

No	644
Date of Notice	25 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Skilling	Mabel Edith Gillispie
BDM Match (98%)	Samuel Skilling	Mabel Edith Gillespie
	💍 1912/3728
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	domestic duties
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Wheatstone	Wheatstone
Length of Residence	29 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	12/3478
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Brown

645

29 May 1912

George Ernest Parsons
Eliza Gillespie

George Ernest Tarsons
Eliza Gillespie
💍 1912/3817

Bachelor
Spinster

Chaffer
domestic duties

41
29

Ashburton
Wheatstone

30 years
9 months

Presbyterian Church

12/3477

29 May 1912

Rev. J. A. Brown

No	645
Date of Notice	29 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Ernest Parsons	Eliza Gillespie
BDM Match (98%)	George Ernest Tarsons	Eliza Gillespie
	💍 1912/3817
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chaffer	domestic duties
Age	41	29
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Wheatstone
Length of Residence	30 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	12/3477
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Brown

646

29 May 1912

Edward Charles Atkins
Joan Glendinning Stewart

Edward Charles Atkins
Joan Glendinning Stewart
💍 1912/3749

Widower
Spinster

Cook
domestic duties

49
36

Ashburton
Ashburton

5 weeks
4 months

The dwelling of William Terras, 108 Grey Street

12/3485

29 May 1912

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	646
Date of Notice	29 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Charles Atkins	Joan Glendinning Stewart
	💍 1912/3749
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Cook	domestic duties
Age	49	36
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	5 weeks	4 months
Marriage Place	The dwelling of William Terras, 108 Grey Street
Folio	12/3485
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).