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 455

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1902 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

149

19 March 1902

David Borland
Emma Leech

David Borland
Emma Leech
💍 1912/654

Widower
Widow

Poultry Farmer

67
58

Dunedin
Dunedin

8 months
15 months

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

12/253

19 March 1902

H. Maxwell

No	149
Date of Notice	19 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Borland	Emma Leech
	💍 1912/654
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Poultry Farmer
Age	67	58
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	8 months	15 months
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	12/253
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1902
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

150

19 March 1902

Alfred Peters
Ellen Finlay

Alfred Peters
Ellen Finlay
💍 1912/1233

Reuben Oliver Rowlands
Ellen Finlay
💍 1913/1983

Widower
Spinster

Brass Finisher

41
39

Caversham
Dunedin

2 years
19 years

In the house of Mr. M. Finlay, 51 Union Street, Dunedin

12/909

19 March 1902

C. Dallaston

No	150
Date of Notice	19 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Peters	Ellen Finlay
	💍 1912/1233
BDM Match (61%)	Reuben Oliver Rowlands	Ellen Finlay
	💍 1913/1983
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Brass Finisher
Age	41	39
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. M. Finlay, 51 Union Street, Dunedin
Folio	12/909
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1902
Officiating Minister	C. Dallaston

151

20 March 1902

Thomas Allan Mason
Echel Beatrice Anderson

Thomas Allan Mason
Ethel Beatrice Anderson
💍 1912/4237

Bachelor
Spinster

Cutter

36
22

Dunedin
North East Valley

28 years
7 years

In the house of Mr. W. J. Anderson, 76 Gladstone Road, North East Valley

12/4079

20 March 1902

I. K. McIntyre

No	151
Date of Notice	20 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Allan Mason	Echel Beatrice Anderson
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Allan Mason	Ethel Beatrice Anderson
	💍 1912/4237
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cutter
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	North East Valley
Length of Residence	28 years	7 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. W. J. Anderson, 76 Gladstone Road, North East Valley
Folio	12/4079
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1902
Officiating Minister	I. K. McIntyre

152

20 March 1902

William James Munro
Elizabeth Ternent

William James Munro
Elizabeth Ternent
💍 1912/4447

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

32
32

North East Valley
Dunedin

32 years
32 years

In the house of Mr. W. R. Ternent, 145 Dundas Street, Dunedin

12/4315

20 March 1902

R. C. Davies

No	152
Date of Notice	20 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Munro	Elizabeth Ternent
	💍 1912/4447
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	32	32
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	Dunedin
Length of Residence	32 years	32 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. W. R. Ternent, 145 Dundas Street, Dunedin
Folio	12/4315
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1902
Officiating Minister	R. C. Davies

153

22 March 1902

Robert John Neilson
Wilhelmina Hedemann Islip

Robert John Neilson
Wilhelmina Hedemann Islip
💍 1912/1378

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

25
21

St Kilda
South Dunedin

2 years
9 months

In St. Peters Church, Caversham

12/957

22 March 1902

H. H. Bedford

No	153
Date of Notice	22 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Neilson	Wilhelmina Hedemann Islip
	💍 1912/1378
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	St Kilda	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	9 months
Marriage Place	In St. Peters Church, Caversham
Folio	12/957
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1902
Officiating Minister	H. H. Bedford

154

25 March 1902

Thomas Walker Callander
Margaret Williamson

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner

41
40

Dunedin
Dunedin

7 years
8 months

In the house of Mr. H. W. Cave, 131 Stafford Street, Dunedin

12/959

25 March 1902

Wm. Spence

No	154
Date of Notice	25 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Walker Callander	Margaret Williamson
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner
Age	41	40
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	7 years	8 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. H. W. Cave, 131 Stafford Street, Dunedin
Folio	12/959
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Wm. Spence

155

25 March 1902

Leonard Kenneth Harnett
Elizabeth Montgomery Vernon Somerville

Leonard Kenneth Harnett
Elizabeth Montgomery Vernan Somerville
💍 1912/1226

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner

34
22

Maori Hill
Maori Hill

3 days
4 years

In the house of Mr. A. S. H. Somerville, 6 Brendon Street, Maori Hill

12/925

25 March 1902

H. H. Barton

No	155
Date of Notice	25 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Kenneth Harnett	Elizabeth Montgomery Vernon Somerville
BDM Match (99%)	Leonard Kenneth Harnett	Elizabeth Montgomery Vernan Somerville
	💍 1912/1226
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner
Age	34	22
Dwelling Place	Maori Hill	Maori Hill
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. A. S. H. Somerville, 6 Brendon Street, Maori Hill
Folio	12/925
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1902
Officiating Minister	H. H. Barton

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).