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 832

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 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

1 April 1912

Herbert Ranwell Andrews
Margaret Hamilton

Herbert Ranwell Andrews
Margaret Hamilton
💍 1912/6467

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic

30
34

Kelvin Road, Invercargill
Ythan St, Invercargill

8 years
5 months

Wesleyan Church, Tweed St, Invercargill

12/6184

1 April 1912

Rev. W. Grigg

No	50
Date of Notice	1 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Ranwell Andrews	Margaret Hamilton
	💍 1912/6467
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic
Age	30	34
Dwelling Place	Kelvin Road, Invercargill	Ythan St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 years	5 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Tweed St, Invercargill
Folio	12/6184
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Grigg

1 April 1912

Percy Herbert Challer
Harriet Catherine Mary Jackson

Percy Herbert Challis
Harriet Catherine Mary Jackson
💍 1912/4034

Bachelor
Spinster

Gaol Warder
Lady-help

28
23

Avenue, Invercargill
Gladstone, Invercargill

28 years
5 years

Residence of Robert Limes, Leven St, Invercargill

12/3748

1 April 1912

Rev. W. Grigg

No	51
Date of Notice	1 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Herbert Challer	Harriet Catherine Mary Jackson
BDM Match (95%)	Percy Herbert Challis	Harriet Catherine Mary Jackson
	💍 1912/4034
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gaol Warder	Lady-help
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Avenue, Invercargill	Gladstone, Invercargill
Length of Residence	28 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Robert Limes, Leven St, Invercargill
Folio	12/3748
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Grigg

1 April 1912

William Donaldson
Annie Doable

William Donaldson
Annie Double
💍 1912/4031

Widower
Widow

Plasterer
Domestic

52
45

Eye St, Invercargill
Tweed St, Invercargill

31 years
26 years

Residence of J. Amiel, Tweed St, Invercargill

12/3745

1 April 1912

Mr. R. Laycock

No	52
Date of Notice	1 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Donaldson	Annie Doable
BDM Match (96%)	William Donaldson	Annie Double
	💍 1912/4031
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Plasterer	Domestic
Age	52	45
Dwelling Place	Eye St, Invercargill	Tweed St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	31 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. Amiel, Tweed St, Invercargill
Folio	12/3745
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Mr. R. Laycock

2 April 1912

Robert Michael Williams
Jessie Christabel Knips

Bachelor
Spinster

Life Insurance Agent
Domestic

43
27

Clifton, Invercargill
Clifton, Invercargill

3 days
13 years

Residence of George Knips, Clifton, Invercargill

12/3948

2 April 1912

Rev. A. J. Kettle

No	53
Date of Notice	2 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Michael Williams	Jessie Christabel Knips
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Life Insurance Agent	Domestic
Age	43	27
Dwelling Place	Clifton, Invercargill	Clifton, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	13 years
Marriage Place	Residence of George Knips, Clifton, Invercargill
Folio	12/3948
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. J. Kettle

2 April 1912

Thomas Bowman Murray
Margaret O'Brien

Thomas Bowman Murray
Margaret OBrien
💍 1912/4411

William Caesar Edwards
Margaret O'Brien
💍 1912/5931

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Tailoress

26
24

Broadlands, Invercargill
Richmond Grove, Invercargill

9 years
24 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St, Invercargill

12/3979

2 April 1912

Very Rev. W. Burke

No	54
Date of Notice	2 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Bowman Murray	Margaret O'Brien
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Bowman Murray	Margaret OBrien
	💍 1912/4411
BDM Match (61%)	William Caesar Edwards	Margaret O'Brien
	💍 1912/5931
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Tailoress
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Broadlands, Invercargill	Richmond Grove, Invercargill
Length of Residence	9 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St, Invercargill
Folio	12/3979
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burke

2 April 1912

Duncan Maittan
Elizabeth Allen

Duncan Maitland
Elizabeth Allan
💍 1912/6302

Duncan McCormick
Elizabeth James
💍 1912/2219

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

31
31

Lochiel, Invercargill
Maikeur, Invercargill

3 months
25 years

Presbyterian Church, Maikeur, Invercargill

12/5843

2 April 1912

Rev. J. Cumming

No	55
Date of Notice	2 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan Maittan	Elizabeth Allen
BDM Match (90%)	Duncan Maitland	Elizabeth Allan
	💍 1912/6302
BDM Match (62%)	Duncan McCormick	Elizabeth James
	💍 1912/2219
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	31	31
Dwelling Place	Lochiel, Invercargill	Maikeur, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 months	25 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Maikeur, Invercargill
Folio	12/5843
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cumming

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).