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 076

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1912 Registrar Frank 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

416

30 May 1912

Leonard Henry Varian Wilson
Elsie Thorn

Leonard Henry Varian Wilson
Elsie Shorn
💍 1912/4319

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheet metal Worker

28
22

St. Albans
Christchurch

13 years
20 years

House of Mr. John Thorn, 182 Antigua Street, Christchurch

12/4177

30 May 1912

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	416
Date of Notice	30 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Henry Varian Wilson	Elsie Thorn
BDM Match (95%)	Leonard Henry Varian Wilson	Elsie Shorn
	💍 1912/4319
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheet metal Worker
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	13 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. John Thorn, 182 Antigua Street, Christchurch
Folio	12/4177
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

417

30 May 1912

Albert Edward Dacombe
Alice Susannah Wright

Albert Edward Dacombe
Alice Susanah Wright
💍 1912/7842

Bachelor
Spinster

Tinsmith

25
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

10 years
7 years

House of Rev. S. Henderson, Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch

12/6052

30 May 1912

Rev. S. Henderson

No	417
Date of Notice	30 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Dacombe	Alice Susannah Wright
BDM Match (98%)	Albert Edward Dacombe	Alice Susanah Wright
	💍 1912/7842
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tinsmith
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	10 years	7 years
Marriage Place	House of Rev. S. Henderson, Cambridge Terrace, Christchurch
Folio	12/6052
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Henderson

418

31 May 1912

Sidney Prosper Palmer Bray (severally known as Sidney Prosper Bray)
Lily Anne Henrietta Worthington

Sidney Prosper Palmer Bray
Lily Anne Henrietta Worthington
💍 1912/6682

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

29
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

5 days
10 years

St. Paul's Anglican Church, Papanui

12/6507

31 May 1912

Rev. F. A. Julius

No	418
Date of Notice	31 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Prosper Palmer Bray (severally known as Sidney Prosper Bray)	Lily Anne Henrietta Worthington
BDM Match (69%)	Sidney Prosper Palmer Bray	Lily Anne Henrietta Worthington
	💍 1912/6682
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	5 days	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Anglican Church, Papanui
Folio	12/6507
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. A. Julius

419

31 May 1912

Francis Bertram Alloway
Elsie Louisa Watkins

Francis Bertram Alloway
Elsie Louisa Watkins
💍 1912/2976

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dressmaker

24
22

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 months
2 years

Baptist Church, Sydenham

12/2749

31 May 1912

Rev. F. A. Williams

No	419
Date of Notice	31 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Bertram Alloway	Elsie Louisa Watkins
	💍 1912/2976
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Baptist Church, Sydenham
Folio	12/2749
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. A. Williams

420

31 May 1912

John William Kelvin
Grace Patton

John William Velvin
Grace Patters
💍 1912/7846

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

26
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 years
1 year

Oxford Terrace Baptist Church, Christchurch

12/6073

31 May 1912

Rev. R. S. Gray

No	420
Date of Notice	31 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Kelvin	Grace Patton
BDM Match (86%)	John William Velvin	Grace Patters
	💍 1912/7846
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Oxford Terrace Baptist Church, Christchurch
Folio	12/6073
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. S. Gray

421

31 May 1912

David Hay
Caroline Priscilla Borman

David Hay
Caroline Priscilla Boaman
💍 1912/2870

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Waitress

49
34

Christchurch
Sumner

Life
Life

Residence of Mrs. Orr, Colenso St., Sumner

12/2619

31 May 1912

Rev. E. Sarginson

No	421
Date of Notice	31 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Hay	Caroline Priscilla Borman
BDM Match (98%)	David Hay	Caroline Priscilla Boaman
	💍 1912/2870
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Waitress
Age	49	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sumner
Length of Residence	Life	Life
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Orr, Colenso St., Sumner
Folio	12/2619
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Sarginson

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).