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 229

District of Lyttelton Quarter ending 31 March 1912 Registrar William Dryburgh Wallace

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

1 January 1912

Frederick Kenrio Dulray
Edith Buller

Frederick Lewis Gilroy
Edith Buller
💍 1912/1471

Bachelor
Spinster

Insurance collector

23
25

Lyttelton
Christchurch

23 years
20 years

The Presbyterian Church

12/1175

1 January 1912

Rev. J. J. Bates (Presbyterian)

No	1
Date of Notice	1 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Kenrio Dulray	Edith Buller
BDM Match (85%)	Frederick Lewis Gilroy	Edith Buller
	💍 1912/1471
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Insurance collector
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	20 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church
Folio	12/1175
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 January 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Bates (Presbyterian)

4 January 1912

Charles Hope Reid
Alice Louisa Rogers

Charles Hope Reid
Alice Louise Rogers
💍 1912/1470

Bachelor
Widow

Seaman

38
44

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

2 years
10 years

The Presbyterian Manse

12/1174

4 January 1912

Rev. J. J. Bates (Presbyterian)

No	2
Date of Notice	4 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Hope Reid	Alice Louisa Rogers
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Hope Reid	Alice Louise Rogers
	💍 1912/1470
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Seaman
Age	38	44
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Manse
Folio	12/1174
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Bates (Presbyterian)

8 January 1912

Sydney Talbot Capes
Jane Trembath

Sydney Talbot Capes
Jane Trembath
💍 1912/729

Widower
Spinster

Painter
Domestic

24
22

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

3 weeks
3 weeks

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Lyttelton

12/280

8 January 1912

H. M. G. Macfarlane, Deputy Registrar

No	3
Date of Notice	8 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Talbot Capes	Jane Trembath
	💍 1912/729
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Lyttelton
Folio	12/280
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1912
Officiating Minister	H. M. G. Macfarlane, Deputy Registrar

12 January 1912

Leonard Joseph Glasson
Catherine Emily McGrath

Leonard Joseph Glasson
Catherine Emily McGrath
💍 1912/1469

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dom. servant

26
20

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

9 months
20 years

The residence of Patrick McGrath, Exeter St, Lyttelton

12/1173

Patrick McGrath (father)

12 January 1912

Rev. J. J. Bates (Presbyterian)

No	4
Date of Notice	12 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Joseph Glasson	Catherine Emily McGrath
	💍 1912/1469
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dom. servant
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	9 months	20 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Patrick McGrath, Exeter St, Lyttelton
Folio	12/1173
Consent	Patrick McGrath (father)
Date of Certificate	12 January 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Bates (Presbyterian)

17 January 1912

Herbert Hugh Wood
Elizabeth Kathleen Pope

Herbert Hugh Wood
Elizabeth Kathleen Pope
💍 1912/2056

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
21

Governor's Bay
Governor's Bay

14 days
18 years

St. Cuthbert's Church, Governor's Bay

12/1745

17 January 1912

Rev. S. W. Christian (Anglican)

No	5
Date of Notice	17 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Hugh Wood	Elizabeth Kathleen Pope
	💍 1912/2056
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Governor's Bay	Governor's Bay
Length of Residence	14 days	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Cuthbert's Church, Governor's Bay
Folio	12/1745
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 January 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. W. Christian (Anglican)

25 January 1912

William Irving Armstrong
Mary Loader

William Irving Armstrong
Mary Loader
💍 1912/1473

Bachelor
Spinster

Surfaceman

20
31

Tokomaru
Lyttelton

2 years
31 years

Holy Trinity Church, Shannon

12/1177

25 January 1912

Rev. C. Coates (Anglican)

No	6
Date of Notice	25 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Irving Armstrong	Mary Loader
	💍 1912/1473
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surfaceman
Age	20	31
Dwelling Place	Tokomaru	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	2 years	31 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Shannon
Folio	12/1177
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Coates (Anglican)

2 February 1912

Francis O'Donnell
Elizabeth Muncey

Francis O'Donnell
Elizabeth Muncey
💍 1912/1468

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
21

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

14 days
1 month

The residence of J. B. F. Rothwell, Exeter St, Lyttelton

12/1172

2 February 1912

Rev. B. F. Rothwell (Methodist)

No	7
Date of Notice	2 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis O'Donnell	Elizabeth Muncey
	💍 1912/1468
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	14 days	1 month
Marriage Place	The residence of J. B. F. Rothwell, Exeter St, Lyttelton
Folio	12/1172
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. F. Rothwell (Methodist)

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).