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 168

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 December 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

862

26 November 1912

Henry Marks Prestidge
Jane Beatrice Metheral Carter

Henry Marks Prestidge
Jane Beatrice Metheral Carter
💍 1912/8686

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

29
32

Christchurch
Addington

3 days
2 months

St. Mary Church Addington

12/812

26 November 1912

Rev. W.S. Bean

No	862
Date of Notice	26 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Marks Prestidge	Jane Beatrice Metheral Carter
	💍 1912/8686
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	29	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Addington
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary Church Addington
Folio	12/812
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W.S. Bean

863

26 November 1912

Richard Neylon
Marjorie Heybourne

Richard Neylon
Marjory Heybourne
💍 1912/5419

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

29
21

Sydenham
Sydenham

2 years
42 years

House of Mr. R. Neylon, 21, Faraday St.

12/9003

26 November 1912

Rev. J. Hanrahan

No	863
Date of Notice	26 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Neylon	Marjorie Heybourne
BDM Match (94%)	Richard Neylon	Marjory Heybourne
	💍 1912/5419
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	2 years	42 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. R. Neylon, 21, Faraday St.
Folio	12/9003
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hanrahan

864

27 November 1912

David James Lundon
Catherine Teresa McSteer

David James Lundon
Catherine Teresa McAteer
💍 1912/5420

Widower
Spinster

Butcher

31
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

12/9004

27 November 1912

Rev. T.W. Price

No	864
Date of Notice	27 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David James Lundon	Catherine Teresa McSteer
BDM Match (98%)	David James Lundon	Catherine Teresa McAteer
	💍 1912/5420
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	31	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	12/9004
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. T.W. Price

865

27 November 1912

Harry Ellis Lee
Ellen Sarah Brant

Harry Ellis Lee
Ellen Sarah Brant
💍 1912/8561

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

27
25

St. Albans
St. Albans

3 days
Life

St. Matthews Church St. Albans Christchurch

12/8046

27 November 1912

Rev. P.B. Haggitt

No	865
Date of Notice	27 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Ellis Lee	Ellen Sarah Brant
	💍 1912/8561
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	3 days	Life
Marriage Place	St. Matthews Church St. Albans Christchurch
Folio	12/8046
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.B. Haggitt

866

27 November 1912

William Dent Johnson
Agnes Shaw

William Dent Johnson
Agnes Shaw
💍 1912/5138

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker
Household duties

29
35

Spreydon
Spreydon

Life
18 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

12/6623

27 November 1912

F. Evans Registrar

No	866
Date of Notice	27 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Dent Johnson	Agnes Shaw
	💍 1912/5138
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker	Household duties
Age	29	35
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Spreydon
Length of Residence	Life	18 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	12/6623
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1912
Officiating Minister	F. Evans Registrar

867

27 November 1912

Bulkeley Aneurin Yorke Wynne-Yorke
Grace Caroline Jenning

Bulkeley Anewrin Yorke Wynne-Yorke
Grace Caroline Jennings
💍 1912/8813

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman

23
26

St. Albans
St. Albans

2 months
Life

Church of England Merivale Christchurch

12/8200

27 November 1912

Rev. C.H. Gosset

No	867
Date of Notice	27 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bulkeley Aneurin Yorke Wynne-Yorke	Grace Caroline Jenning
BDM Match (96%)	Bulkeley Anewrin Yorke Wynne-Yorke	Grace Caroline Jennings
	💍 1912/8813
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	St. Albans
Length of Residence	2 months	Life
Marriage Place	Church of England Merivale Christchurch
Folio	12/8200
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. C.H. Gosset

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).