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 018

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 September 1912 Registrar William Winsbury 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

652

1 July 1912

Arthur George Leonard
Grace Marion Stephen

Arthur George Leonard
Grace Caroline Stephen
💍 1912/5986

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic duties

33
21

Trevorton
Trevorton

33 years
12 months

At the dwelling of James Leonard, Trevorton

12/5050

1 July 1912

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	652
Date of Notice	1 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur George Leonard	Grace Marion Stephen
BDM Match (89%)	Arthur George Leonard	Grace Caroline Stephen
	💍 1912/5986
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic duties
Age	33	21
Dwelling Place	Trevorton	Trevorton
Length of Residence	33 years	12 months
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of James Leonard, Trevorton
Folio	12/5050
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

653

3 July 1912

Frederic Wanklyn Williams
Kate Constance Standish

Frederic Wanklyn Williams
Kate Constance Standish
💍 1912/8985

Widower
Spinster

Merchant
Domestic duties

54
30

Napier
Ashburton

3 days
3 years

At St. Stephens Church, Ashburton

12/7998

3 July 1912

Rev. F. Whitehouse

No	653
Date of Notice	3 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederic Wanklyn Williams	Kate Constance Standish
	💍 1912/8985
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Merchant	Domestic duties
Age	54	30
Dwelling Place	Napier	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	At St. Stephens Church, Ashburton
Folio	12/7998
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Whitehouse

654

5 August 1912

Charles Solway
Eliza Dunn

Charles Solway
Eliza Dunn
💍 1912/5985

Charles Mooney
Hannah Dunn
💍 1912/2569

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

22
25

Netherby
Netherby

22 years
8 years

At the dwelling of Mrs. McMillan, Netherby

12/5049

5 August 1912

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	654
Date of Notice	5 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Solway	Eliza Dunn
	💍 1912/5985
BDM Match (63%)	Charles Mooney	Hannah Dunn
	💍 1912/2569
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Netherby	Netherby
Length of Residence	22 years	8 years
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of Mrs. McMillan, Netherby
Folio	12/5049
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

655

14 August 1912

William Sincale
Maude Emma Hewson

William Smale
Maude Emma Hewson
💍 1912/5520

Widower
Spinster

Shop Assistant
Domestic duties

37
29

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 days
27 years

At the dwelling of Alexander Hewson, Ashburton

12/808

14 August 1912

Rev. H. J. Elliott

No	655
Date of Notice	14 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Sincale	Maude Emma Hewson
BDM Match (90%)	William Smale	Maude Emma Hewson
	💍 1912/5520
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Shop Assistant	Domestic duties
Age	37	29
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of Alexander Hewson, Ashburton
Folio	12/808
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Elliott

656

24 August 1912

Arthur Vivian Jackman
Frances Llewellyn Williams

Arthur Vivian Jackman
Frances Lousia Williams
💍 1912/5988

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic duties

33
38

Mayfield
Mayfield

18 months
12 months

Wesleyan Church, Mayfield

12/5052

24 August 1912

Mr. F. Nicholls

No	656
Date of Notice	24 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Vivian Jackman	Frances Llewellyn Williams
BDM Match (85%)	Arthur Vivian Jackman	Frances Lousia Williams
	💍 1912/5988
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	33	38
Dwelling Place	Mayfield	Mayfield
Length of Residence	18 months	12 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Mayfield
Folio	12/5052
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 August 1912
Officiating Minister	Mr. F. Nicholls

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).