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 826

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

21 February 1912

Thomas Caleb Froggatt
Elizabeth Little

Thomas Caleb Froggatt
Elizabeth Little
💍 1912/652

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Agent
Domestic

32
29

Gala Street, Invercargill
Mary Street, Invercargill

3 years
29 years

Office of Registrar, Invercargill

12/274

21 February 1912

Deputy Registrar, Invercargill

No	25
Date of Notice	21 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Caleb Froggatt	Elizabeth Little
	💍 1912/652
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Agent	Domestic
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Gala Street, Invercargill	Mary Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Invercargill
Folio	12/274
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar, Invercargill

22 February 1912

Errol Willie Broome
Alice Elizabeth Patterson

Errol Lillie Brookes
Alice Elizabeth Patterson
💍 1912/653

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent
Domestic

22
19

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 years
2 years

Office of Registrar, Invercargill

12/275

Walter Patterson, father

22 February 1912

Deputy Registrar, Invercargill

No	26
Date of Notice	22 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Errol Willie Broome	Alice Elizabeth Patterson
BDM Match (93%)	Errol Lillie Brookes	Alice Elizabeth Patterson
	💍 1912/653
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent	Domestic
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Invercargill
Folio	12/275
Consent	Walter Patterson, father
Date of Certificate	22 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar, Invercargill

23 February 1912

James Keith
Alice Theresa McKenzie

James Keith
Alice Theresa McKenzie
💍 1912/1486

Widower
Widow

Farmer
House Keeper

66
50

Invercargill
Dee Street, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

House of Mrs. Pryce, Dee Street, Invercargill

12/1090

23 February 1912

Rev. M. Ryburn

No	27
Date of Notice	23 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Keith	Alice Theresa McKenzie
	💍 1912/1486
	💍 1912/1486
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	House Keeper
Age	66	50
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Dee Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Pryce, Dee Street, Invercargill
Folio	12/1090
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Ryburn

26 February 1912

Arthur Richard Watson
Elizabeth Gerrit

Arthur Richard Watson
Elizabeth Sterritt
💍 1912/2042

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

30
26

Clyde Street, Invercargill
Georgetown, Invercargill

7 months
7 months

Residence of Mrs. Wilson, Invercargill

12/1706

26 February 1912

Rev. W. Burridge

No	28
Date of Notice	26 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Richard Watson	Elizabeth Gerrit
BDM Match (92%)	Arthur Richard Watson	Elizabeth Sterritt
	💍 1912/2042
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Clyde Street, Invercargill	Georgetown, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 months	7 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Wilson, Invercargill
Folio	12/1706
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Burridge

27 February 1912

Alfred Springford
Catherine Helena Wilson

Alfred Springford
Catherine Helenor Wilson
💍 1912/1487

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Domestic

21
22

Ritchie Street, Invercargill
Newcastle Street, Invercargill

2 years
2 years

Residence of Barbara Wilson, Newcastle Street, Invercargill

12/1091

27 February 1912

Rev. M. Ryburn

No	29
Date of Notice	27 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Springford	Catherine Helena Wilson
BDM Match (96%)	Alfred Springford	Catherine Helenor Wilson
	💍 1912/1487
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Ritchie Street, Invercargill	Newcastle Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Barbara Wilson, Newcastle Street, Invercargill
Folio	12/1091
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Ryburn

29 February 1912

George James Glover
Alice Nellam Booth

George James Glover
Alice Melham Cook
💍 1912/711

Widower
Widow

Carpenter
Domestic

41
40

Royal Bush, Invercargill
Royal Bush, Invercargill

20 months
5 weeks

Office of Registrar, Invercargill

12/276

29 February 1912

Registrar, Invercargill

No	30
Date of Notice	29 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George James Glover	Alice Nellam Booth
BDM Match (86%)	George James Glover	Alice Melham Cook
	💍 1912/711
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	41	40
Dwelling Place	Royal Bush, Invercargill	Royal Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	20 months	5 weeks
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Invercargill
Folio	12/276
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Invercargill

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).