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 050

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1912 Registrar L. C. Williams

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

225

28 March 1912

Leonard George Osment
Helen Jane Auld

Leonard George Osment
Helen Jane Auld
💍 1912/2845

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
6 years

St. Davids Church, Sydenham

12/2644

28 March 1912

Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

No	225
Date of Notice	28 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard George Osment	Helen Jane Auld
	💍 1912/2845
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Davids Church, Sydenham
Folio	12/2644
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

226

28 March 1912

Harry Turner
Annie Milner

Harry Turner
Annie Milner
💍 1912/4298

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer

32
38

Opawa
Avonside

5 years
Life

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside

12/4164

28 March 1912

Rev. O. Fitz Gerald, Anglican

No	226
Date of Notice	28 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Turner	Annie Milner
	💍 1912/4298
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer
Age	32	38
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Avonside
Length of Residence	5 years	Life
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside
Folio	12/4164
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. Fitz Gerald, Anglican

227

30 March 1912

John William Perkins
Ida Muff

John William Perkins
Ida Muff
💍 1912/2966

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
25

Christchurch
Burwood

2 years
4 years

All Saints, Burwood

12/2740

30 March 1912

Rev. C. A. Tobin, Anglican

No	227
Date of Notice	30 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Perkins	Ida Muff
	💍 1912/2966
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Burwood
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	All Saints, Burwood
Folio	12/2740
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Tobin, Anglican

228

30 March 1912

William Hallaway McMillan
Agnes McLaughlin Cameron

William Hallaway McMillan
Agnes McLaughlin Cameron
💍 1912/2930

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper

30
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

2½ years
2½ years

St. Paul's, Christchurch

12/2657

30 March 1912

Rev. J. Tait, P.W.S.

No	228
Date of Notice	30 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hallaway McMillan	Agnes McLaughlin Cameron
	💍 1912/2930
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2½ years	2½ years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's, Christchurch
Folio	12/2657
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tait, P.W.S.

229

30 March 1912

William Searle
Maud Novette Saint

William Searle
Maud Nonette Saint
💍 1912/3597

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

27
28

Christchurch
Ohau

5 years
4 years

House of W. H. Saint, Ohau

12/3282

30 March 1912

Rev. H. Curran, Christians

No	229
Date of Notice	30 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Searle	Maud Novette Saint
BDM Match (97%)	William Searle	Maud Nonette Saint
	💍 1912/3597
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Ohau
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of W. H. Saint, Ohau
Folio	12/3282
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Curran, Christians

230

30 March 1912

Robert Douglas Oswald
Edith Mary Glasson Johns

Robert Douglas Oswald
Edith Mary Glasson Johns
💍 1912/4199

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

29
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 years
6 years

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch

12/4065

30 March 1912

Rev. J. Mackenzie, P.W.S.

No	230
Date of Notice	30 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Douglas Oswald	Edith Mary Glasson Johns
	💍 1912/4199
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 years	6 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch
Folio	12/4065
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie, P.W.S.

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).