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 836

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

24 April 1912

James William Samuel Dor
Roberta Marshall Bell

James William Samuel Dore
Robertha Marshall Bell
💍 1912/3936

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

57
20

Invercargill
Invercargill

6 days
3 days

Residence of J. R. Bell, Tay St

12/3780

James Bell, father of bride

24 April 1912

Rev. R. C. Ryburn

No	74
Date of Notice	24 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Samuel Dor	Roberta Marshall Bell
BDM Match (96%)	James William Samuel Dore	Robertha Marshall Bell
	💍 1912/3936
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	57	20
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	6 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of J. R. Bell, Tay St
Folio	12/3780
Consent	James Bell, father of bride
Date of Certificate	24 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. C. Ryburn

30 April 1912

John Aloysius Henley
Catherine Mary Josephine Lachlan

John Aloysius Henley
Catherine Mary Josephine McLachlan
💍 1912/4416

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

36
40

Invercargill
Finch St, Invercargill

1 year
1 year

St. Mary's Catholic Church, Tyne St

12/3984

30 April 1912

Rev. J. Burke

No	75
Date of Notice	30 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Aloysius Henley	Catherine Mary Josephine Lachlan
BDM Match (97%)	John Aloysius Henley	Catherine Mary Josephine McLachlan
	💍 1912/4416
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	36	40
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Finch St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Catholic Church, Tyne St
Folio	12/3984
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Burke

6 May 1912

William Ewing Findlater
Mary Young Findlater

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

47
35

Eller Road, Invercargill
West Plimmerton, Invercargill

47 years
35 years

Residence of W. Young

12/5841

6 May 1912

Rev. J. Cumming

No	76
Date of Notice	6 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ewing Findlater	Mary Young Findlater
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	47	35
Dwelling Place	Eller Road, Invercargill	West Plimmerton, Invercargill
Length of Residence	47 years	35 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. Young
Folio	12/5841
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cumming

8 May 1912

Charles Dupre Clifford
Mary Sommerville Brown

Charles Dupre De Clifford
Mary Somerville Brown
💍 1912/3943

Widower
Spinster

Hotel Keeper
Domestic

36
21

Invercargill (Orepuki)
Invercargill (Orepuki)

3 days
3 days

Presbyterian Church, Tay St

12/3781

8 May 1912

Rev. W. Kyburn

No	77
Date of Notice	8 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Dupre Clifford	Mary Sommerville Brown
BDM Match (92%)	Charles Dupre De Clifford	Mary Somerville Brown
	💍 1912/3943
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Hotel Keeper	Domestic
Age	36	21
Dwelling Place	Invercargill (Orepuki)	Invercargill (Orepuki)
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay St
Folio	12/3781
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Kyburn

10 May 1912

Walter William Leask
Maria Emma Dora Simon

Walter William Leask
Maria Emma Dora Simon
💍 1912/6301

Bachelor
Spinster

Road Builder
Pastry Cook

34
27

Invercargill (Stewart Island)
Myross Bush, Invercargill

34 years
27 years

Residence of John Simon

12/5842

10 May 1912

Rev. J. Cumming

No	78
Date of Notice	10 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter William Leask	Maria Emma Dora Simon
	💍 1912/6301
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Road Builder	Pastry Cook
Age	34	27
Dwelling Place	Invercargill (Stewart Island)	Myross Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	34 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Simon
Folio	12/5842
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cumming

11 May 1912

Richard Roy Stalker
Ann Jane Stalker

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill Hand
Domestic

27
28

Invercargill (Stewart Island)
Invercargill (Stewart Island)

16 months
5 months

Residence of J. S. Ellack

12/3742

11 May 1912

Rev. J. B. Baird

No	79
Date of Notice	11 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Roy Stalker	Ann Jane Stalker
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill Hand	Domestic
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Invercargill (Stewart Island)	Invercargill (Stewart Island)
Length of Residence	16 months	5 months
Marriage Place	Residence of J. S. Ellack
Folio	12/3742
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Baird

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).