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 513

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 December 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

509

1 October 1912

George Kerr
Isabella Eliza Hollands

George Kerr
Isabella Eliza Hollands
💍 1912/8856

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
32

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In St Pauls Cathedral Dunedin

12/8375

1 October 1912

H. G. Gould

No	509
Date of Notice	1 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Kerr	Isabella Eliza Hollands
	💍 1912/8856
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	32
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In St Pauls Cathedral Dunedin
Folio	12/8375
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 October 1912
Officiating Minister	H. G. Gould

510

2 October 1912

Henry William Walter Jeffree
Margaret Lilian Jeffree

Henry William Walter
Margaret Lilian Jeffree
💍 1912/9150

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep farmer

40
24

Mornington
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the Waratah Tea Rooms George Street Dunedin

12/8414

2 October 1912

D. McColl

No	510
Date of Notice	2 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Walter Jeffree	Margaret Lilian Jeffree
BDM Match (86%)	Henry William Walter	Margaret Lilian Jeffree
	💍 1912/9150
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep farmer
Age	40	24
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Waratah Tea Rooms George Street Dunedin
Folio	12/8414
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1912
Officiating Minister	D. McColl

511

2 October 1912

Arthur John Burne Campbell
Jane Sinclair

Arthur John Barus Campbell
Jane Sinclair
💍 1912/5229

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller

35
36

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
22 years

In the house of Mrs Jane Sinclair 24 William Street Dunedin

12/8787

2 October 1912

R. Waddell

No	511
Date of Notice	2 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Burne Campbell	Jane Sinclair
BDM Match (94%)	Arthur John Barus Campbell	Jane Sinclair
	💍 1912/5229
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller
Age	35	36
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Jane Sinclair 24 William Street Dunedin
Folio	12/8787
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1912
Officiating Minister	R. Waddell

512

2 October 1912

Stanton Douglas Lawson
Daisy Maude Fancourt

Stanton Douglas Lawson
Daisy Maude Fancourt
💍 1912/6656

Bachelor
Divorced

Tanner

39
41

Dunedin
Dunedin

23 years
30 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

12/6669

2 October 1912

H. Maxwell

No	512
Date of Notice	2 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanton Douglas Lawson	Daisy Maude Fancourt
	💍 1912/6656
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Tanner
Age	39	41
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	23 years	30 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	12/6669
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1912
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

513

2 October 1912

John Kirkwood Chisholm
Christina Alexander Chisholm

John Kirkwood
Christina Alexander Chisholm
💍 1912/9123

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruitgrower

28
29

Dunedin
Roslyn

3 days
10 years

In the house of the Rev Jas. Chisholm Heart Street Roslyn

12/8336

2 October 1912

Jas. Chisholm

No	513
Date of Notice	2 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Kirkwood Chisholm	Christina Alexander Chisholm
BDM Match (80%)	John Kirkwood	Christina Alexander Chisholm
	💍 1912/9123
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruitgrower
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Roslyn
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	In the house of the Rev Jas. Chisholm Heart Street Roslyn
Folio	12/8336
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1912
Officiating Minister	Jas. Chisholm

514

2 October 1912

Percival Leonard Daubney
Violetta Solomon

Percival Leonard Daubney
Violetta Solomon
💍 1912/5235

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler

28
24

Maori Hill
Dunedin

6 years
6 months

In All Saints Church Dunedin

12/8792

2 October 1912

A. R. Fitchett

No	514
Date of Notice	2 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Leonard Daubney	Violetta Solomon
	💍 1912/5235
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Maori Hill	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 years	6 months
Marriage Place	In All Saints Church Dunedin
Folio	12/8792
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1912
Officiating Minister	A. R. Fitchett

515

2 October 1912

Alexander Clegg Smith
Anniea Birkett Smith

Alexander Clegg
Annie Birkett Smith
💍 1912/8082

Bachelor
Widow

Storekeeper

33
36

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

3 years
1 week

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

12/6689

2 October 1912

H. Maxwell

No	515
Date of Notice	2 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Clegg Smith	Anniea Birkett Smith
BDM Match (83%)	Alexander Clegg	Annie Birkett Smith
	💍 1912/8082
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Storekeeper
Age	33	36
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	1 week
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	12/6689
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1912
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

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).