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 449

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1912 Registrar Henry Maxwell

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

105

24 February 1912

Ernest Keene
Sarah Ann Elizabeth Thomas

Ernest Keene
Sarah Ann Elizabeth Thomas
💍 1912/1221

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

21
19

Caversham
Caversham

2 years
6 years

In the house of Mr & Mrs E. Thomas, 306 Main South Road, Caversham

12/928

Elizabeth Thomas, Mother

24 February 1912

D. J. Murray

No	105
Date of Notice	24 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Keene	Sarah Ann Elizabeth Thomas
	💍 1912/1221
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr & Mrs E. Thomas, 306 Main South Road, Caversham
Folio	12/928
Consent	Elizabeth Thomas, Mother
Date of Certificate	24 February 1912
Officiating Minister	D. J. Murray

106

26 February 1912

John Dunlop
Ailsa Eleanor Ormond Vallange

John Dunlop
Ailsa Eleanor Ormond Vallange
💍 1912/1243

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist

26
20

Roslyn
Roslyn

3 days
17 years

In St. Johns Church, Roslyn

12/941

Eleanor Louisa Vallange, Mother

26 February 1912

W. A. R. Fitchett

No	106
Date of Notice	26 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dunlop	Ailsa Eleanor Ormond Vallange
	💍 1912/1243
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Roslyn
Length of Residence	3 days	17 years
Marriage Place	In St. Johns Church, Roslyn
Folio	12/941
Consent	Eleanor Louisa Vallange, Mother
Date of Certificate	26 February 1912
Officiating Minister	W. A. R. Fitchett

107

26 February 1912

Samuel Robinson
Mary Helen Coutts

Samuel Robinson
Mary Helen Coutts
💍 1912/4529

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

43
37

West Harbour
West Harbour

3 days
3 days

In the house of Rev. R. Waddell, 342 High Street, Dunedin

12/4279

26 February 1912

R. Waddell

No	107
Date of Notice	26 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Robinson	Mary Helen Coutts
	💍 1912/4529
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	43	37
Dwelling Place	West Harbour	West Harbour
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. R. Waddell, 342 High Street, Dunedin
Folio	12/4279
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1912
Officiating Minister	R. Waddell

108

26 February 1912

William Mowbray Smith
Elma Evelyn Snow

William Mowbray Smith
Elma Evelyn Snow
💍 1912/1251

Bachelor
Spinster

Customs Officer

27
27

Mornington
Mornington

27 years
5 days

In the house of W. D. B. Smith, 99 Hawthorne Road, Mornington

12/950

26 February 1912

Wm. Scorgie

No	108
Date of Notice	26 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Mowbray Smith	Elma Evelyn Snow
	💍 1912/1251
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Customs Officer
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Mornington
Length of Residence	27 years	5 days
Marriage Place	In the house of W. D. B. Smith, 99 Hawthorne Road, Mornington
Folio	12/950
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Wm. Scorgie

109

26 February 1912

Arthur John Driscoll
Gladys Myrtle Boutcher

Arthur John Driscoll
Gladys Myrtle Boutcher
💍 1912/1228

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

23
22

St. Kilda
North East Valley

3 months
6 years

In the Baptist Church, North East Valley

12/904

26 February 1912

D. S. Mason

No	109
Date of Notice	26 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Driscoll	Gladys Myrtle Boutcher
	💍 1912/1228
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	St. Kilda	North East Valley
Length of Residence	3 months	6 years
Marriage Place	In the Baptist Church, North East Valley
Folio	12/904
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1912
Officiating Minister	D. S. Mason

110

26 February 1912

John William Reeves
Agnes Allan

John William Reeves
Agnes Allan
💍 1912/625

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

28
26

Caversham
Caversham

7 years
5 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

12/247

26 February 1912

H. Maxwell

No	110
Date of Notice	26 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Reeves	Agnes Allan
	💍 1912/625
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	7 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	12/247
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1912
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

111

26 February 1912

Percival Ernest Wall
Emma Rachel Ottolangui

Percival Ernest Wall
Emma Rachel Ottolangui
💍 1912/626

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

28
36

Dunedin
St. Kilda

20 months
3 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

12/248

26 February 1912

H. Maxwell

No	111
Date of Notice	26 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Ernest Wall	Emma Rachel Ottolangui
	💍 1912/626
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	28	36
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	St. Kilda
Length of Residence	20 months	3 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	12/248
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1912
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).