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 564

District of East Taieri Quarter ending 31 March 1912 Registrar Gilbert Burness Burns

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

15 January 1912

Thomas George Munro
Winifred Virginia Simpson

Thomas George Munro
Winifred Virginia Simpson
💍 1912/1862

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

31
28

Wylies Crossing, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

18 months
3 weeks

St. Lukes, Mosgiel, Otago

12/1573

15 January 1912

C. J. Steale, Mosgiel

No	1
Date of Notice	15 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas George Munro	Winifred Virginia Simpson
	💍 1912/1862
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Wylies Crossing, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	18 months	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Lukes, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	12/1573
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1912
Officiating Minister	C. J. Steale, Mosgiel

27 January 1912

Joseph Fairer Hill
Elizabeth Huggins

Joseph Wairoa Hill
Elizabeth Huggins
💍 1912/1860

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman

32
26

North Taieri, Otago
North Taieri, Otago

1 week
3 years

House of H. Huggins, North Taieri, Otago

12/1571

27 January 1912

Rev. J. H. Radford, Mosgiel

No	2
Date of Notice	27 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Fairer Hill	Elizabeth Huggins
BDM Match (92%)	Joseph Wairoa Hill	Elizabeth Huggins
	💍 1912/1860
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	North Taieri, Otago	North Taieri, Otago
Length of Residence	1 week	3 years
Marriage Place	House of H. Huggins, North Taieri, Otago
Folio	12/1571
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 January 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Radford, Mosgiel

29 January 1912

John Thomas Heath
Mary Stuart

John Thomas Heath
Mary Stuart Fisher
💍 1912/1863

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Hand

30
22

Brighton, Otago
Brighton, Otago

3 days
2 weeks

Manse, Brighton, Otago

12/1574

29 January 1912

Rev. J. Lymburn, North Taieri

No	3
Date of Notice	29 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Heath	Mary Stuart
BDM Match (81%)	John Thomas Heath	Mary Stuart Fisher
	💍 1912/1863
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Hand
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Brighton, Otago	Brighton, Otago
Length of Residence	3 days	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Manse, Brighton, Otago
Folio	12/1574
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Lymburn, North Taieri

10 February 1912

Thomas Joseph Benjamin Nicol
Agnes McKeagg

Thomas Joseph Benjamin Nicol
Agnes McKeagg
💍 1912/1861

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Porter

24
19

Mosgiel, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

3 days
19 years

House of H. Gibson, Mosgiel, Otago

12/1572

C. McKeagg, father

10 February 1912

Rev. J. Aitken, Mosgiel

No	4
Date of Notice	10 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Joseph Benjamin Nicol	Agnes McKeagg
	💍 1912/1861
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Porter
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	3 days	19 years
Marriage Place	House of H. Gibson, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	12/1572
Consent	C. McKeagg, father
Date of Certificate	10 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Aitken, Mosgiel

25 March 1912

Ernest William Pullan
Flora McKeagg

Ernest William Pullan
Flora McKeagg
💍 1912/3888

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman

23
21

Janefield, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

12 years
31 years

Presbyterian Church, Mosgiel, Otago

12/3698

25 March 1912

Rev. J. Aitken, Mosgiel

No	5
Date of Notice	25 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest William Pullan	Flora McKeagg
	💍 1912/3888
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Janefield, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	12 years	31 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	12/3698
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Aitken, Mosgiel

26 March 1912

David Orange
Agnes Wilson

David Orange
Agnes Wilson
💍 1912/3890

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

36
26

Saddle Hill, Otago
Saddle Hill, Otago

3 days
20 years

House of John Wilson, Saddle Hill, Otago

12/3700

26 March 1912

Rev. D. K. Fisher, Brighton

No	6
Date of Notice	26 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Orange	Agnes Wilson
	💍 1912/3890
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	36	26
Dwelling Place	Saddle Hill, Otago	Saddle Hill, Otago
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	House of John Wilson, Saddle Hill, Otago
Folio	12/3700
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. K. Fisher, Brighton

27 March 1912

Robert James Cuthill
Isabella Fleming

Robert James Cuthill
Isabella Fleming
💍 1912/3885

Bachelor
Spinster

Iron Moulder

24
27

Mosgiel, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

14 years
26 years

House of James Fleming, Mosgiel, Otago

12/3696

27 March 1912

Rev. J. Aitken, Mosgiel

No	7
Date of Notice	27 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James Cuthill	Isabella Fleming
	💍 1912/3885
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Iron Moulder
Age	24	27
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	14 years	26 years
Marriage Place	House of James Fleming, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	12/3696
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Aitken, Mosgiel

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).