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 478

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 June 1912 Registrar James Taylor

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

299

29 May 1912

John Robertson Melvin
Janet May Sutton

John Robertson Melvin
Janet May Sutton
💍 1912/2959

Bachelor
Spinster

Grain broker

39
33

Dunedin
Dunedin

39 years
6 months

In the First Church Manse Dunedin

12/2784

29 May 1912

G. H. Balfour

No	299
Date of Notice	29 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Robertson Melvin	Janet May Sutton
	💍 1912/2959
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grain broker
Age	39	33
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	39 years	6 months
Marriage Place	In the First Church Manse Dunedin
Folio	12/2784
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1912
Officiating Minister	G. H. Balfour

300

29 May 1912

Anners Karl Wilheim Show
Sarah Josephine Welsh

Anners Karl Wilhelm Skow
Sarah Josephine Welsh
💍 1912/3042

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

29
25

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

25 years
9 years

In the Baptist Church South Dunedin

12/2842

29 May 1912

Wm. Perry

No	300
Date of Notice	29 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Anners Karl Wilheim Show	Sarah Josephine Welsh
BDM Match (96%)	Anners Karl Wilhelm Skow	Sarah Josephine Welsh
	💍 1912/3042
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	25 years	9 years
Marriage Place	In the Baptist Church South Dunedin
Folio	12/2842
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Wm. Perry

301

29 May 1912

Alfred James Bayes
Islay Muriel Hamilton Reid

Alfred James Boyes
Islay Muriel Hamilton Reid
💍 1912/2221

Bachelor
Spinster

Expressman

24
23

North East Valley
North East Valley

24 years
23 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

12/1985

29 May 1912

Jas. Taylor

No	301
Date of Notice	29 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred James Bayes	Islay Muriel Hamilton Reid
BDM Match (97%)	Alfred James Boyes	Islay Muriel Hamilton Reid
	💍 1912/2221
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Expressman
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	North East Valley
Length of Residence	24 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	12/1985
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Jas. Taylor

302

30 May 1912

Herbert Henry Ross
Mabel Matilda Margaret Dunn

Herbert Henry Ross
Mabel Matilda Margaret Dunn
💍 1912/7932

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway employee

24
22

South Dunedin
Green Island

24 years
6 years

In the house of the Rev. R. Fairmaid 33 Young Street St. Hilda

12/6288

30 May 1912

Rev. R. Fairmaid

No	302
Date of Notice	30 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Henry Ross	Mabel Matilda Margaret Dunn
	💍 1912/7932
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway employee
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	Green Island
Length of Residence	24 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the house of the Rev. R. Fairmaid 33 Young Street St. Hilda
Folio	12/6288
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Fairmaid

303

30 May 1912

Richard Meekin
Margaret Healey

Richard Meekin
Margaret Healey
💍 1912/3359

Widower
Spinster

Engine driver

52
38

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

6 years
30 years

In St. Patrick's Basilica South Dunedin

12/138

30 May 1912

J. P. Delany

No	303
Date of Notice	30 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Meekin	Margaret Healey
	💍 1912/3359
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver
Age	52	38
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 years	30 years
Marriage Place	In St. Patrick's Basilica South Dunedin
Folio	12/138
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1912
Officiating Minister	J. P. Delany

304

30 May 1912

Campbell Graham Scolton
Margaret Winifred Scott

Campbell Graham Scolon
Margaret Winifred Scott
💍 1912/2958

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk

34
32

Dunedin
Maori Hill

10 years
32 years

In the First Church Dunedin

12/2783

30 May 1912

G. H. Balfour

No	304
Date of Notice	30 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Campbell Graham Scolton	Margaret Winifred Scott
BDM Match (98%)	Campbell Graham Scolon	Margaret Winifred Scott
	💍 1912/2958
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk
Age	34	32
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Maori Hill
Length of Residence	10 years	32 years
Marriage Place	In the First Church Dunedin
Folio	12/2783
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1912
Officiating Minister	G. H. Balfour

305

31 May 1912

William Wilson
Emily Payne

William Wilson
Emily Payne
💍 1912/4321

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway employee

26
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 years

In the Presbyterian Church South Dunedin

12/4188

31 May 1912

R. Fairmaid

No	305
Date of Notice	31 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wilson	Emily Payne
	💍 1912/4321
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway employee
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church South Dunedin
Folio	12/4188
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1912
Officiating Minister	R. Fairmaid

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).