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 834

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

4 April 1912

James McKimmell
Rachel Foster

James McKinnel
Rachel Foster Howarth
💍 1912/3923

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

32
30

Maillina, Invercargill
Southland, Invercargill

35 years
3 days

Residence of Mr. Malleys

12/3761

4 April 1912

Rev. D. Shaw

No	62
Date of Notice	4 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McKimmell	Rachel Foster
BDM Match (71%)	James McKinnel	Rachel Foster Howarth
	💍 1912/3923
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Maillina, Invercargill	Southland, Invercargill
Length of Residence	35 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Malleys
Folio	12/3761
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Shaw

9 April 1912

Arthur Thomas Pritty
Annie Matilda Pritty

Arthur Thomas Holmes
Annie Matilda Witty
💍 1912/3902

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk
Domestic

28
22

Jackson St, Invercargill
Yarrow St, Invercargill

3 years
17 months

English Church, Gladstone

12/3764

9 April 1912

Rev. T. Lamborn

No	63
Date of Notice	9 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Thomas Pritty	Annie Matilda Pritty
BDM Match (80%)	Arthur Thomas Holmes	Annie Matilda Witty
	💍 1912/3902
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk	Domestic
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Jackson St, Invercargill	Yarrow St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	17 months
Marriage Place	English Church, Gladstone
Folio	12/3764
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Lamborn

9 April 1912

Harry Stanley Scoullar
Ethel Violet Scoullar

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk
Domestic

28
26

Jackson St, Invercargill
Yarrow St, Invercargill

3 years
2 years

English Church, Gladstone

12/3750

9 April 1912

Rev. Mr. Archer Stocker

No	64
Date of Notice	9 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Stanley Scoullar	Ethel Violet Scoullar
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk	Domestic
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Jackson St, Invercargill	Yarrow St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Gladstone
Folio	12/3750
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. Archer Stocker

10 April 1912

Alfred Salter Shepherd
Ellen Mary Josephine Shepherd

Alfred Salter
Ellen Mary Josephine Shepherd
💍 1912/4413

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
School Teacher

26
27

Tay St, Invercargill
Ettrick St, Invercargill

3 days
3 months

Roman Catholic Church, Lyn St

12/3981

10 April 1912

Rev. W. Burke

No	65
Date of Notice	10 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Salter Shepherd	Ellen Mary Josephine Shepherd
BDM Match (80%)	Alfred Salter	Ellen Mary Josephine Shepherd
	💍 1912/4413
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	School Teacher
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Tay St, Invercargill	Ettrick St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Lyn St
Folio	12/3981
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Burke

13 April 1912

Thomas Arthur Clark
Mary Butler Clark

Thomas Aitken Clark
Mary Butler
💍 1912/2582

Bachelor
Spinster

Platelayer
Domestic

29
30

Eyre St, Invercargill
Elle Road, Invercargill

27 years
30 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Elle Road

12/2351

13 April 1912

Rev. J. Ryburn

No	66
Date of Notice	13 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Arthur Clark	Mary Butler Clark
BDM Match (72%)	Thomas Aitken Clark	Mary Butler
	💍 1912/2582
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Platelayer	Domestic
Age	29	30
Dwelling Place	Eyre St, Invercargill	Elle Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	27 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Elle Road
Folio	12/2351
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ryburn

18 April 1912

Henry Philip Campbell
Esther Laidlaw Scott

Henry Philip Campbell
Esther Laidlaw Scott
💍 1912/3917

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman
Domestic

24
30

Alexandra Rd, Invercargill
Alexandra St, Invercargill

15 years
30 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay St

12/3778

18 April 1912

Rev. R. Ryburn

No	67
Date of Notice	18 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Philip Campbell	Esther Laidlaw Scott
	💍 1912/3917
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman	Domestic
Age	24	30
Dwelling Place	Alexandra Rd, Invercargill	Alexandra St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	15 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay St
Folio	12/3778
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ryburn

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).