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 067

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1912 Registrar F. Evans

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

368

4 May 1912

Henry Edbrooke
Ida Estelle Packwood

Henry Edbrooke
Ida Estelle Packwood
💍 1912/6322

Bachelor
Spinster

Manager
Shop Assistant

31
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 years
7 years

Church of England, Cashmere Hills

12/6010

4 May 1912

Rev. F. R. Inwood

No	368
Date of Notice	4 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Edbrooke	Ida Estelle Packwood
	💍 1912/6322
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Manager	Shop Assistant
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Cashmere Hills
Folio	12/6010
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. R. Inwood

369

6 May 1912

Leonard Prebble
Jeanie Grace Ferguson

Leonard Prebble
Jeanie Grace Ferguson
💍 1912/4308

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller
Dressmaker

26
25

Riccarton
Sydenham

Life
Life

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch

12/4173

6 May 1912

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	369
Date of Notice	6 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Prebble	Jeanie Grace Ferguson
	💍 1912/4308
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Dressmaker
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Sydenham
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch
Folio	12/4173
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

370

6 May 1912

Samuel Thornley
Selina Mary Davies

Samuel Thornley
Selina Mary Davies
💍 1912/2163

Widower
Spinster

Mill Owner

40
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 days
6 weeks

Office of Registrar, Christchurch

12/1853

6 May 1912

Registrar

No	370
Date of Notice	6 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Thornley	Selina Mary Davies
	💍 1912/2163
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Mill Owner
Age	40	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Christchurch
Folio	12/1853
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Registrar

371

7 May 1912

Michael Walsh
Mary Commons

Michael Walsh
Mary Commons
💍 1912/2904

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Housekeeper

38
44

Linwood
Linwood

4 years
5 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

12/2679

7 May 1912

Rev. Z. W. Price

No	371
Date of Notice	7 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Walsh	Mary Commons
	💍 1912/2904
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Housekeeper
Age	38	44
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	12/2679
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Z. W. Price

372

7 May 1912

Henry Robert Turner
Jeanne Owen

Henry Robert Turner
Jeanne Owen
💍 1912/2933

Widower
Spinster

Salesman

65
45

Christchurch
Christchurch

75 years
4 years

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch

12/2660

7 May 1912

Rev. J. Tait

No	372
Date of Notice	7 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Robert Turner	Jeanne Owen
	💍 1912/2933
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	65	45
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	75 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Christchurch
Folio	12/2660
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tait

373

8 May 1912

Charles Alfred Vogt
Elizabeth Hilly Power

Charles Alfred Vogt
Elizabeth Lilly Power
💍 1912/3079

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Duties

28
23

Christchurch
Fendalton

3 days
4 years

St. Mary's Cathedral, Christchurch

12/2704

8 May 1912

Rev. R. Hoare

No	373
Date of Notice	8 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Alfred Vogt	Elizabeth Hilly Power
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Alfred Vogt	Elizabeth Lilly Power
	💍 1912/3079
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Duties
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Fendalton
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	12/2704
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Hoare

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).