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 828

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

9 March 1912

James Strang Blue
Jane Wallace

James Strang Blue
Jane Wallace
💍 1912/1501

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

40
35

Invercargill
Invercargill

38 years
35 years

Presbyterian Church, Wallacetown, Invercargill

12/1081

9 March 1912

Rev. A. Rugg

No	37
Date of Notice	9 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Strang Blue	Jane Wallace
	💍 1912/1501
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	40	35
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	38 years	35 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Wallacetown, Invercargill
Folio	12/1081
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Rugg

12 March 1912

James Archibald Taylor
Christina Gillies

James Archibald Taylor
Christina Gillies
💍 1912/1490

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

29
24

Invercargill
Annandale St, Moana, Melbourne

6 months
11 days

Presbyterian Church, Invercargill

12/1094

12 March 1912

Rev. R. H. Ryburn

No	38
Date of Notice	12 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Archibald Taylor	Christina Gillies
	💍 1912/1490
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Annandale St, Moana, Melbourne
Length of Residence	6 months	11 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Invercargill
Folio	12/1094
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. H. Ryburn

16 March 1912

Alfred William Jones
Elizabeth Thrall

Alfred William Jones
Elizabeth Stirrat
💍 1912/3135

Frederick William Jones
Elizabeth Mary Snoswell
💍 1912/6988

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Domestic

22
26

Clyde St, Invercargill
Tweed St, Invercargill

12 years
26 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Elle Road, Invercargill

12/2902

16 March 1912

Rev. J. A. Ryburn

No	39
Date of Notice	16 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred William Jones	Elizabeth Thrall
BDM Match (82%)	Alfred William Jones	Elizabeth Stirrat
	💍 1912/3135
BDM Match (61%)	Frederick William Jones	Elizabeth Mary Snoswell
	💍 1912/6988
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Domestic
Age	22	26
Dwelling Place	Clyde St, Invercargill	Tweed St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	12 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Elle Road, Invercargill
Folio	12/2902
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Ryburn

16 March 1912

Edmond George Stevens
Emma Theresa Stevens

Edmund George Sands
Emma Theresa Stevens
💍 1912/4249

Bachelor
Spinster

Striker
Domestic

26
23

Boreall Road, Invercargill
McQuarrie St, Invercargill

19 years
18 years

Residence of William Stevens, McQuarrie St, Invercargill

12/4140

16 March 1912

Rev. Richard Morgan

No	40
Date of Notice	16 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmond George Stevens	Emma Theresa Stevens
BDM Match (86%)	Edmund George Sands	Emma Theresa Stevens
	💍 1912/4249
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Striker	Domestic
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Boreall Road, Invercargill	McQuarrie St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	19 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Stevens, McQuarrie St, Invercargill
Folio	12/4140
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Richard Morgan

19 March 1912

Harold Errol Graham
Minnie Felicia Robinson

Harold Errol Whatson
Minnie Felicia Robinson
💍 1912/430

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

24
23

Gladstone, Invercargill
Nightcaps, Otautau

24 years
3 months

English Church, Gladstone, Otautau

12/1103

19 March 1912

Rev. W. L. Swinburn

No	41
Date of Notice	19 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Errol Graham	Minnie Felicia Robinson
BDM Match (85%)	Harold Errol Whatson	Minnie Felicia Robinson
	💍 1912/430
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Gladstone, Invercargill	Nightcaps, Otautau
Length of Residence	24 years	3 months
Marriage Place	English Church, Gladstone, Otautau
Folio	12/1103
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. L. Swinburn

20 March 1912

Joseph Frederick Field
Sophia Annon Brown

Joseph Frederick Field
Sophia Brown
💍 1912/3915

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

23
19

Waituna, Invercargill
Waituna, Invercargill

3 months
19 years

Residence of Andrew Brown, Waituna, Invercargill

12/3776

Andrew Brown, father

20 March 1912

Rev. W. M. McGregor

No	42
Date of Notice	20 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Frederick Field	Sophia Annon Brown
BDM Match (83%)	Joseph Frederick Field	Sophia Brown
	💍 1912/3915
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Waituna, Invercargill	Waituna, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 months	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Andrew Brown, Waituna, Invercargill
Folio	12/3776
Consent	Andrew Brown, father
Date of Certificate	20 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. M. McGregor

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).