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 093

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 September 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

510

5 July 1912

Ralph Mawson
Isabella Hasten Watkins

Ralph Mawson
Isabella Hashen Watkins
💍 1912/6380

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

24
20

Papanui
Sydenham

23 years
15 years

St. Davids Presbyterian Church, Christchurch

12/6044

Mary Watkins

5 July 1912

Rev. C. Murray

No	510
Date of Notice	5 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph Mawson	Isabella Hasten Watkins
BDM Match (98%)	Ralph Mawson	Isabella Hashen Watkins
	💍 1912/6380
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Papanui	Sydenham
Length of Residence	23 years	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Davids Presbyterian Church, Christchurch
Folio	12/6044
Consent	Mary Watkins
Date of Certificate	5 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray

511

6 July 1912

Henry Hall
Lucy Smith

Henry Hall
Lucy Smith
💍 1912/4595

George Thomas Williams
Lucy Smith
💍 1913/1894

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

38
28

Christchurch
Hornby

6 months
2 years

Registrars Office, Christchurch

12/4418

6 July 1912

F. Evans Registrar

No	511
Date of Notice	6 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hall	Lucy Smith
	💍 1912/4595
BDM Match (64%)	George Thomas Williams	Lucy Smith
	💍 1913/1894
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	38	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Hornby
Length of Residence	6 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Christchurch
Folio	12/4418
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1912
Officiating Minister	F. Evans Registrar

512

8 July 1912

Albert John Wintle
Gertrude Louisa Cook

Albert John Wintle
Gertrude Louisa Cook
💍 1912/4596

Bachelor
Widow

Merchant

39
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

11 years
8 years

Registrars Office, Christchurch

12/4419

8 July 1912

F. Evans Registrar

No	512
Date of Notice	8 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert John Wintle	Gertrude Louisa Cook
	💍 1912/4596
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Merchant
Age	39	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office, Christchurch
Folio	12/4419
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1912
Officiating Minister	F. Evans Registrar

513

9 July 1912

Frederick Ullrich
Elsie Margaret Sommishaw

Frederick Ullrich
Elsie Margaret Scrimshaw
💍 1912/5714

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Fireman
Dressmaker

26
21

St. Albans
Islington

14 years
Life

St. Columbus Church, Hornby

12/4491

9 July 1912

Rev. J. R. Wilford

No	513
Date of Notice	9 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Ullrich	Elsie Margaret Sommishaw
BDM Match (92%)	Frederick Ullrich	Elsie Margaret Scrimshaw
	💍 1912/5714
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Fireman	Dressmaker
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Islington
Length of Residence	14 years	Life
Marriage Place	St. Columbus Church, Hornby
Folio	12/4491
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Wilford

514

9 July 1912

Reginald Thomas Richards
Eva Carlisle Izard

Reginald Thomas Richards
Eva Carlisle Tyard
💍 1912/5404

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

45
35

Howai Geraldine
Christchurch

2 years
1 month

Holy Trinity Church, Avonside, Christchurch

12/8962

9 July 1912

Rev. W. A. H. Pascoe

No	514
Date of Notice	9 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Thomas Richards	Eva Carlisle Izard
BDM Match (94%)	Reginald Thomas Richards	Eva Carlisle Tyard
	💍 1912/5404
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	45	35
Dwelling Place	Howai Geraldine	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Avonside, Christchurch
Folio	12/8962
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. H. Pascoe

515

11 July 1912

Frederick Charles Mason
Sybil Hypatia Styles

Frederick Charles Mason
Sybil Hypatia Styles
💍 1912/6395

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Shop Assistant

27
25

St. Albans
Christchurch

Life
12 months

St. Johns Church, Christchurch

12/6034

11 July 1912

Rev. H. Purchase

No	515
Date of Notice	11 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Charles Mason	Sybil Hypatia Styles
	💍 1912/6395
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Shop Assistant
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Christchurch
Length of Residence	Life	12 months
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church, Christchurch
Folio	12/6034
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Purchase

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).