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 674

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

3062

28 August 1912

David Robert Findlay Henderson
Margaret McPherson

David Robert Findlay Henderson
Margaret McPherson
💍 1912/5805

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

41
33

Ardgowan
Ardgowan

41 years
16 years

In the Columba Manse, Wansbeck Street, Oamaru

12/5118

28 August 1912

Rev. William Wright

No	3062
Date of Notice	28 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Robert Findlay Henderson	Margaret McPherson
	💍 1912/5805
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	41	33
Dwelling Place	Ardgowan	Ardgowan
Length of Residence	41 years	16 years
Marriage Place	In the Columba Manse, Wansbeck Street, Oamaru
Folio	12/5118
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Wright

3063

30 August 1912

Allan James McKenzie
Janet Marion Scoular

Allan James McKenzie
Janet Marion Scoular
💍 1912/6442

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle mechanic
Tailoress

24
23

Waiareka Junction
Oamaru

20 years
20 years

Residence of Mr. Andrew Scoular, Eden Street, Oamaru

12/6132

30 August 1912

Rev. Robert James Porter

No	3063
Date of Notice	30 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan James McKenzie	Janet Marion Scoular
	💍 1912/6442
	💍 1912/6442
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle mechanic	Tailoress
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Waiareka Junction	Oamaru
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Andrew Scoular, Eden Street, Oamaru
Folio	12/6132
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 August 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert James Porter

3064

3 September 1912

Reginald Richard Orr
Clara Kear

Reginald Richard Orr
Clara Kear
💍 1912/5803

Bachelor
Spinster

Chauffeur
Dressmaker

35
32

Oamaru
Oamaru

35 years
32 years

At the residence of Mr. Isaac Kear, Mersey Street, Oamaru

12/5116

3 September 1912

Rev. William Wright

No	3064
Date of Notice	3 September 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Richard Orr	Clara Kear
	💍 1912/5803
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chauffeur	Dressmaker
Age	35	32
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	35 years	32 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr. Isaac Kear, Mersey Street, Oamaru
Folio	12/5116
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Wright

3065

5 September 1912

George McDonald
Mary Elizabeth Shepherd

George McDonald
Mary Elizabeth Shepherd
💍 1912/5804

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
27

Kia Ora
Kia Ora

5 years
3 years

In the Columba Manse at Oamaru

12/5117

5 September 1912

Rev. William Wright

No	3065
Date of Notice	5 September 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George McDonald	Mary Elizabeth Shepherd
	💍 1912/5804
	💍 1912/5804
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Kia Ora	Kia Ora
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the Columba Manse at Oamaru
Folio	12/5117
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Wright

3066

5 September 1912

Andrew James Rawson
Isabella Park Byers

Andrew James Rawson
Isabella Park Byers
💍 1912/5182

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic duties

23
27

Reidston
Reidston

13 years
27 years

In the residence of Richard Byers at Reidston

12/873

5 September 1912

Rev. Henry John Davis

No	3066
Date of Notice	5 September 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew James Rawson	Isabella Park Byers
	💍 1912/5182
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic duties
Age	23	27
Dwelling Place	Reidston	Reidston
Length of Residence	13 years	27 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Richard Byers at Reidston
Folio	12/873
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry John Davis

3067

10 September 1912

Herbert Nicholson
Fanny Welch

Herbert Henry Nicholson
Fanny Welch
💍 1912/7908

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

31
29

Pukeuri
Pukeuri

31 years
5 months

At the residence of the Rev. John Steven, Papakaio

12/6264

10 September 1912

Rev. John Steven

No	3067
Date of Notice	10 September 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Nicholson	Fanny Welch
BDM Match (87%)	Herbert Henry Nicholson	Fanny Welch
	💍 1912/7908
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Pukeuri	Pukeuri
Length of Residence	31 years	5 months
Marriage Place	At the residence of the Rev. John Steven, Papakaio
Folio	12/6264
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 September 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Steven

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).