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 672

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 30 September 1912 Registrar Alexander Adam Mair

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

3050

6 July 1912

Thomas Nightingale
Nellie Violet Winifred Mathie

Thomas Nightingale
Nellie Violet Winifred Mathie
💍 1912/7699

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

26
24

Oamaru
Oamaru

25 years
24 years

In the Roman Catholic Basilica

12/5824

6 July 1912

Rev. Alexander Farthing

No	3050
Date of Notice	6 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Nightingale	Nellie Violet Winifred Mathie
	💍 1912/7699
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	25 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Basilica
Folio	12/5824
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Farthing

3051

9 July 1912

John Mattinson
Ellen Hickeson Mitchell

John Mattinson
Ellen Hickeson Mitchell
💍 1912/6440

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine driver

40
45

Oamaru
Oamaru

40 years
34 years

In the house of Mr. John G. Marshall, Greta Street, Oamaru

12/6130

9 July 1912

Rev. Robert James Porter

No	3051
Date of Notice	9 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mattinson	Ellen Hickeson Mitchell
	💍 1912/6440
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine driver
Age	40	45
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	40 years	34 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. John G. Marshall, Greta Street, Oamaru
Folio	12/6130
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert James Porter

3052

9 July 1912

Alexander McDonald
Minnie Grace

Alexander McDonald
Minnie Grace
💍 1912/5806

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employed

38
36

Enfield
Enfield

9 years
30 years

In the residence of Mrs. Sarah Grace at Enfield

12/5119

9 July 1912

Rev. William James Williams

No	3052
Date of Notice	9 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander McDonald	Minnie Grace
	💍 1912/5806
	💍 1912/5806
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employed
Age	38	36
Dwelling Place	Enfield	Enfield
Length of Residence	9 years	30 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mrs. Sarah Grace at Enfield
Folio	12/5119
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. William James Williams

3053

10 July 1912

James Stuart Anderson Junior
Mary Jane Baxter

James Stuart Anderson Junior
Mary Jane Baxter
💍 1912/4766

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Laborer
Domestic help

29
23

Enfield
Weston

29 years
23 years

At the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru

12/4665

10 July 1912

Registrar of Marriages

No	3053
Date of Notice	10 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Stuart Anderson Junior	Mary Jane Baxter
	💍 1912/4766
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Laborer	Domestic help
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Enfield	Weston
Length of Residence	29 years	23 years
Marriage Place	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Oamaru
Folio	12/4665
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

3054

17 July 1912

Edward Pirie
Ellen Walker

Edward Pirie
Ellen Walker
💍 1912/6441

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

36
27

Usual: Palmerston South; Present: Oamaru
Usual: Otekaike; Present: Oamaru

3 days
3 days

In the residence of John Carruth Walker of Eden Street, Oamaru

12/6131

17 July 1912

Rev. Robert James Porter

No	3054
Date of Notice	17 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Pirie	Ellen Walker
	💍 1912/6441
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	36	27
Dwelling Place	Usual: Palmerston South; Present: Oamaru	Usual: Otekaike; Present: Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the residence of John Carruth Walker of Eden Street, Oamaru
Folio	12/6131
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert James Porter

3055

18 July 1912

George Paterson
Violet May Doran

George Paterson
Violet May Duran
💍 1912/5802

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom

22
19

South Oamaru
South Oamaru

22 years
2 weeks

In the residence of Mr. George Paterson at South Oamaru

12/5115

Eliza Bookman, mother

18 July 1912

Rev. William Wright

No	3055
Date of Notice	18 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Paterson	Violet May Doran
BDM Match (97%)	George Paterson	Violet May Duran
	💍 1912/5802
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	South Oamaru	South Oamaru
Length of Residence	22 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr. George Paterson at South Oamaru
Folio	12/5115
Consent	Eliza Bookman, mother
Date of Certificate	18 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Wright

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).