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 824

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1912 Registrar John Gaunson Petrie

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

26 January 1912

John James Remedy
Susan Ann Williams

John James Kennedy
Susan Ann Williams
💍 1912/651

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

28
17

Mainaima, Invercargill
Mainaima, Invercargill

21 years
17 years

Office of Registrar, Invercargill

12/273

Richard Williams, father

26 January 1912

Registrar, Invercargill

No	13
Date of Notice	26 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Remedy	Susan Ann Williams
BDM Match (92%)	John James Kennedy	Susan Ann Williams
	💍 1912/651
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	28	17
Dwelling Place	Mainaima, Invercargill	Mainaima, Invercargill
Length of Residence	21 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Invercargill
Folio	12/273
Consent	Richard Williams, father
Date of Certificate	26 January 1912
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Invercargill

30 January 1912

Francis Thomas Vernon Kingsland
Gertrude Maud Price

Francis Thomas Vernon Kingsland
Gertrude Maud Price
💍 1912/432

Bachelor
Spinster

Wool buyer
Domestic

22
24

Waikivi, Invercargill
Waikivi, Invercargill

22 years
24 years

All Saints, Invercargill

12/1107

English Kingsland, father

30 January 1912

Rev. C. Leonburon

No	14
Date of Notice	30 January 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Thomas Vernon Kingsland	Gertrude Maud Price
	💍 1912/432
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wool buyer	Domestic
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Waikivi, Invercargill	Waikivi, Invercargill
Length of Residence	22 years	24 years
Marriage Place	All Saints, Invercargill
Folio	12/1107
Consent	English Kingsland, father
Date of Certificate	30 January 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Leonburon

3 February 1912

Magnus Everett Green
Johanna Grey French

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Household duties

32
28

Elle Road, Invercargill
Tay Street, Invercargill

1 year
1 week

Federal Tearooms, Invercargill

12/1082

D. G. French, father

3 February 1912

Rev. E. Pinett

No	15
Date of Notice	3 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Magnus Everett Green	Johanna Grey French
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Household duties
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Elle Road, Invercargill	Tay Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 year	1 week
Marriage Place	Federal Tearooms, Invercargill
Folio	12/1082
Consent	D. G. French, father
Date of Certificate	3 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Pinett

3 February 1912

James Andrew Stuckey
Georgina Alexandrina Wilson

James Andrew Stuchbery
Georgina Alexandrina Wilson
💍 1912/2020

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

27
20

Stewart Street, Invercargill
Stewart Street, Invercargill

7 years
20 years

Residence of Robert Gobe, Invercargill

12/1685

Robert Gobe, father

3 February 1912

Rev. A. McLennan

No	16
Date of Notice	3 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Andrew Stuckey	Georgina Alexandrina Wilson
BDM Match (93%)	James Andrew Stuchbery	Georgina Alexandrina Wilson
	💍 1912/2020
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Stewart Street, Invercargill	Stewart Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Robert Gobe, Invercargill
Folio	12/1685
Consent	Robert Gobe, father
Date of Certificate	3 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. McLennan

7 February 1912

William James Werney
Florence Margaret Fortine

William James Wesley
Florence Margaret Fortune
💍 1912/2041

William James Minogue
Florence Mabel Sharpe
💍 1912/1425

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker
Domestic

23
23

Yarrow Street, Invercargill
Gladstone, Invercargill

2 years
8 years

Presbyterian Church, Invercargill

12/1705

Thos. Fortine, father

7 February 1912

Rev. H. Burriags

No	17
Date of Notice	7 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Werney	Florence Margaret Fortine
BDM Match (93%)	William James Wesley	Florence Margaret Fortune
	💍 1912/2041
BDM Match (61%)	William James Minogue	Florence Mabel Sharpe
	💍 1912/1425
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker	Domestic
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Yarrow Street, Invercargill	Gladstone, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Invercargill
Folio	12/1705
Consent	Thos. Fortine, father
Date of Certificate	7 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Burriags

8 February 1912

George Sutherland Finlayson
Ann Strong

George Sutherland Finlayson
Ann Strang
💍 1912/1504

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Accountant
Domestic

38
35

Tweed Street, Invercargill
Esk Street, Invercargill

3 years
35 years

Residence of Mrs. Strong, Esk Street

12/1084

Mrs. Strong, mother

8 February 1912

Rev. P. M. Hepburn

No	18
Date of Notice	8 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Sutherland Finlayson	Ann Strong
BDM Match (95%)	George Sutherland Finlayson	Ann Strang
	💍 1912/1504
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Accountant	Domestic
Age	38	35
Dwelling Place	Tweed Street, Invercargill	Esk Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	35 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Strong, Esk Street
Folio	12/1084
Consent	Mrs. Strong, mother
Date of Certificate	8 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. M. Hepburn

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).