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 734

District of Tokomairiro Quarter ending 31 December 1912 Registrar P D Maguire

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

7 October 1912

Andrew Colquhoun Kay
Christina Catherine Hood

Andrew Colquhoun Kay
Christina Catherine Hood
💍 1912/9235

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Dom Duties

23
22

Milton
Milton

5 years
22 years

Presbyterian Church Milton

12/8480

7 October 1912

G Miller

No	23
Date of Notice	7 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Colquhoun Kay	Christina Catherine Hood
	💍 1912/9235
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Dom Duties
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Milton	Milton
Length of Residence	5 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Milton
Folio	12/8480
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1912
Officiating Minister	G Miller

22 October 1912

William Connell
Rosalie Kreft

William Connell
Rosalie Kreft
💍 1912/5608

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dom Duties

35
33

Milton
Milton

3 days
33 years

Roman Catholic Church Milton

12/9169

22 October 1912

M Howard

No	24
Date of Notice	22 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Connell	Rosalie Kreft
	💍 1912/5608
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dom Duties
Age	35	33
Dwelling Place	Milton	Milton
Length of Residence	3 days	33 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Milton
Folio	12/9169
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1912
Officiating Minister	M Howard

30 October 1912

Herbert Raymond Finch
Christina Jack Ferguson

Herbert Raymond Finch
Christina Jack Ferguson
💍 1912/9234

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dom Duties

29
30

Milburn
Milton

29 years
30 years

Jas Fergusons Residence Milton

12/8479

30 October 1912

C Miller

No	25
Date of Notice	30 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Raymond Finch	Christina Jack Ferguson
	💍 1912/9234
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dom Duties
Age	29	30
Dwelling Place	Milburn	Milton
Length of Residence	29 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Jas Fergusons Residence Milton
Folio	12/8479
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1912
Officiating Minister	C Miller

30 November 1912

William Finlay
Margaret McLuckie

William Finlay
Margaret McLuckie
💍 1912/9233

Bachelor
Widow

Miner
Dom Duties

37
33

Waronui Milton
Waronui Milton

3 years
5 years

Presbyterian Manse Milton

12/8478

30 November 1912

C Miller

No	27
Date of Notice	30 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Finlay	Margaret McLuckie
	💍 1912/9233
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner	Dom Duties
Age	37	33
Dwelling Place	Waronui Milton	Waronui Milton
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse Milton
Folio	12/8478
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 November 1912
Officiating Minister	C Miller

18 November 1912

Robert John Harle
Janet McIntosh

Robert John Harle
Janet McIntosh
💍 1912/5271

Bachelor
Spinster

Quarryman
Dom Duties

21
19

Milburn
Milton

3 days
19 years

House of Mr J McIntosh, Milton, Milburn

12/8879

J B McIntosh Father

18 November 1912

E D Patchett

No	28
Date of Notice	18 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Harle	Janet McIntosh
	💍 1912/5271
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Quarryman	Dom Duties
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Milburn	Milton
Length of Residence	3 days	19 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr J McIntosh, Milton, Milburn
Folio	12/8879
Consent	J B McIntosh Father
Date of Certificate	18 November 1912
Officiating Minister	E D Patchett

24 December 1912

John Edward Wight
Henrietta Mabel Martin

John Edward Wight
Henrietta Mabel Martin
💍 1912/9232

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dom Duties

27
30

Milton
Milton

8 days
30 years

Presbyterian Church Milton

12/8477

24 December 1912

C Miller

No	28
Date of Notice	24 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Wight	Henrietta Mabel Martin
	💍 1912/9232
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dom Duties
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Milton	Milton
Length of Residence	8 days	30 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Milton
Folio	12/8477
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 December 1912
Officiating Minister	C Miller

27 December 1912

George Somerville Hall
Louisa Harriette Allen

George Somerville Hall
Louisa Harriette Allen
💍 1913/2266

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Dom Duties

42
32

Lovells Flat
Lovells Flat

20 years
1 year

Presbyterian Manse Lovells Flat

13/1758

27 December 1912

A Morton

No	29
Date of Notice	27 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Somerville Hall	Louisa Harriette Allen
	💍 1913/2266
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dom Duties
Age	42	32
Dwelling Place	Lovells Flat	Lovells Flat
Length of Residence	20 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse Lovells Flat
Folio	13/1758
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 December 1912
Officiating Minister	A Morton

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).