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 854

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 December 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

161

2 October 1912

Thomas Burks
Isabella McDermid

Thomas Curtis Swale
Isabella McDermid
💍 1912/9261

Widower
Spinster

Sawmill-manager
Domestic

44
29

Maianiwa, Invercargill
Maianiwa, Invercargill

3 years
21 years

Residence of Rev. W. Laycock, Spey St., Invercargill

12/8526

2 October 1912

Rev. W. Laycock

No	161
Date of Notice	2 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Burks	Isabella McDermid
BDM Match (76%)	Thomas Curtis Swale	Isabella McDermid
	💍 1912/9261
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill-manager	Domestic
Age	44	29
Dwelling Place	Maianiwa, Invercargill	Maianiwa, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. W. Laycock, Spey St., Invercargill
Folio	12/8526
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 October 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Laycock

162

3 October 1912

Thomas James Phillipson
Jessie Ann Hydeloff

Thomas James Phillipson
Jessie Ann Hyslop
💍 1912/9266

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

22
24

Invercargill
Mary St., Invercargill

22 years
5 years

Presbyterian Church, Invercargill

12/8556

3 October 1912

J. W. Shaw

No	162
Date of Notice	3 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas James Phillipson	Jessie Ann Hydeloff
BDM Match (89%)	Thomas James Phillipson	Jessie Ann Hyslop
	💍 1912/9266
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Mary St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	22 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Invercargill
Folio	12/8556
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 October 1912
Officiating Minister	J. W. Shaw

163

4 October 1912

David Hudson
Vilea S. Code

David Hudson
Vella Clode
💍 1912/6870

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

24
26

East St., Invercargill
East St., Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

12/6909

4 October 1912

Registrar of Marriages

No	163
Date of Notice	4 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Hudson	Vilea S. Code
BDM Match (77%)	David Hudson	Vella Clode
	💍 1912/6870
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	East St., Invercargill	East St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	12/6909
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1912
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

164

5 October 1912

John Rance
Elizabeth Buchanan

John Rance
Elizabeth Buchanan
💍 1912/9313

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

24
26

Maimahuku, Invercargill
Maimahuku, Invercargill

3 days
5 years

Residence of Christina Ann Buchanan, Maimahuku, Invercargill

12/8604

5 October 1912

Rev. A. D. Stillman

No	164
Date of Notice	5 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Rance	Elizabeth Buchanan
	💍 1912/9313
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Maimahuku, Invercargill	Maimahuku, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Christina Ann Buchanan, Maimahuku, Invercargill
Folio	12/8604
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. D. Stillman

165

5 October 1912

William Morrison Smith
Agnes Russell Smith

William Morrison
Agnes Russell Smith
💍 1912/9256

Divorced
Spinster

Photographer
Domestic

42
33

81 Eye St., Invercargill
81 Eye St., Invercargill

3 days
20 years

Residence of J. Peter Smith, 81 Eye St., Invercargill

12/8544

5 October 1912

R. H. T. Fryer

No	165
Date of Notice	5 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Morrison Smith	Agnes Russell Smith
BDM Match (86%)	William Morrison	Agnes Russell Smith
	💍 1912/9256
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Photographer	Domestic
Age	42	33
Dwelling Place	81 Eye St., Invercargill	81 Eye St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. Peter Smith, 81 Eye St., Invercargill
Folio	12/8544
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1912
Officiating Minister	R. H. T. Fryer

166

7 October 1912

William Hayward Young
Agnes Robertson

William Hayward Young
Agnes Robison
💍 1912/5451

Bachelor
Spinster

Factory Operative
Seamstress

35
31

Dee St., Invercargill
Arthur St., Invercargill

4 days
3 years

Presbyterian Church, Invercargill

12/9114

7 October 1912

Rev. T. M. Rennie

No	166
Date of Notice	7 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hayward Young	Agnes Robertson
BDM Match (90%)	William Hayward Young	Agnes Robison
	💍 1912/5451
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Factory Operative	Seamstress
Age	35	31
Dwelling Place	Dee St., Invercargill	Arthur St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Invercargill
Folio	12/9114
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. M. Rennie

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).