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 678

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 30 December 1912 Registrar Alexander Adam Quair

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

3081

5 November 1912

Ernest Paterson
Margaret Jane Robertson

Ernest Paterson
Margaret Jane Robertson
💍 1912/9198

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocers Assistant

24
22

Weston
Weston

2 weeks
2 years

Presbyterian Church at Weston

12/846

5 November 1912

Rev. James O. Wilson

No	3081
Date of Notice	5 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Paterson	Margaret Jane Robertson
	💍 1912/9198
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocers Assistant
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Weston	Weston
Length of Residence	2 weeks	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church at Weston
Folio	12/846
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. James O. Wilson

3082

7 November 1912

John Moore
Helen Redpath Alexander

John Moore
Helen Redpath Alexander
💍 1912/5465

Widower
Spinster

Undertaker

57
45

Oamaru
Meadow Bank

35 years
45 years

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church at Oamaru

12/910

7 November 1912

Rev. Robert James Porter

No	3082
Date of Notice	7 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Moore	Helen Redpath Alexander
	💍 1912/5465
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Undertaker
Age	57	45
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Meadow Bank
Length of Residence	35 years	45 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Presbyterian Church at Oamaru
Folio	12/910
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert James Porter

3085

18 November 1912

Robert Wilson Finlinson
Jane Finlinson

Robert Wilson
Jemima Jane Finlinson
💍 1912/5181

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

42
40

Dunedin
Reidston (present), Dunedin (usual)

1 year
4 days

At the residence of Mrs. Sarah Finlinson at Reidston

12/873

19 November 1912

Rev. Henry John Davis

No	3085
Date of Notice	18 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Wilson Finlinson	Jane Finlinson
BDM Match (62%)	Robert Wilson	Jemima Jane Finlinson
	💍 1912/5181
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	42	40
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Reidston (present), Dunedin (usual)
Length of Residence	1 year	4 days
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mrs. Sarah Finlinson at Reidston
Folio	12/873
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry John Davis

3086

19 November 1912

John Carrig
Susan Kiely

John Carrig
Susan Kiely
💍 1912/5394

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

38
22

Totara
Totara

5 years
7 years

Roman Catholic Church at Oamaru

12/895

19 November 1912

Rev. Alexander Farthing

No	3086
Date of Notice	19 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Carrig	Susan Kiely
	💍 1912/5394
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	38	22
Dwelling Place	Totara	Totara
Length of Residence	5 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church at Oamaru
Folio	12/895
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Farthing

3088

27 November 1912

John Alexander Johnston
Mabel Louisa Gray

John Alexander Johnston
Mabel Louisa Gray
💍 1912/8851

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

25
21

Windsor
Pukenui

25 years
4 years

In the residence of Mr. David Gray of Pukenui

12/838

27 November 1912

Rev. John Steven

No	3088
Date of Notice	27 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alexander Johnston	Mabel Louisa Gray
	💍 1912/8851
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Windsor	Pukenui
Length of Residence	25 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mr. David Gray of Pukenui
Folio	12/838
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Steven

3089

29 November 1912

William Henry Davey
Henrietta Douglas Gray

William Henry Davey
Henrietta Danglas Gray
💍 1912/9212

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Tailoress

29
27

Timaru (usual), Oamaru (present)
Kurow (usual), Oamaru (present)

3 days
4 weeks

Columba Presbyterian Church at Oamaru

12/845

29 November 1912

Rev. William Wright

No	3089
Date of Notice	29 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Davey	Henrietta Douglas Gray
BDM Match (95%)	William Henry Davey	Henrietta Danglas Gray
	💍 1912/9212
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Tailoress
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Timaru (usual), Oamaru (present)	Kurow (usual), Oamaru (present)
Length of Residence	3 days	4 weeks
Marriage Place	Columba Presbyterian Church at Oamaru
Folio	12/845
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Wright

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).