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 863

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

209

18 December 1912

John Rallon
Edith Jane Shepherd

John Balloch
Edith Jane Shepherd
💍 1912/6851

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Domestic

32
19

Esk Street, Invercargill
Esk Street, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

12/6914

Mary Shepherd, mother

18 December 1912

Registrar of Marriages

No	209
Date of Notice	18 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Rallon	Edith Jane Shepherd
BDM Match (88%)	John Balloch	Edith Jane Shepherd
	💍 1912/6851
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Domestic
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Esk Street, Invercargill	Esk Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	12/6914
Consent	Mary Shepherd, mother
Date of Certificate	18 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

210

18 December 1912

Robert Mead
Evelyna Irene Pelwood

Robert Kirk
Evelyna Irene Selwood
💍 1912/9284

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
Domestic

28
20

Yarrow Street, Invercargill
Lowe Street, Invercargill

4 days
4 days

Presbyterian Church, Invercargill

12/8549

William Pelwood, father

18 December 1912

Rev. A. M. Ryburn

No	210
Date of Notice	18 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Mead	Evelyna Irene Pelwood
BDM Match (79%)	Robert Kirk	Evelyna Irene Selwood
	💍 1912/9284
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	Domestic
Age	28	20
Dwelling Place	Yarrow Street, Invercargill	Lowe Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Invercargill
Folio	12/8549
Consent	William Pelwood, father
Date of Certificate	18 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. M. Ryburn

211

19 December 1912

Arnold Eibron Storrie
Helen Allison Royd Pow

Arnold Gibson Storrie
Helen Allison Bryson Pow
💍 1912/9259

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Domestic

25
18

Tweed Street, Invercargill
Spey Street, Invercargill

25 years
2 years

Residence of Catherine Pow, 185 Clyde Street, Invercargill

12/8562

John Pow, father

19 December 1912

Rev. J. M. Shaw

No	211
Date of Notice	19 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arnold Eibron Storrie	Helen Allison Royd Pow
BDM Match (85%)	Arnold Gibson Storrie	Helen Allison Bryson Pow
	💍 1912/9259
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Domestic
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Tweed Street, Invercargill	Spey Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Catherine Pow, 185 Clyde Street, Invercargill
Folio	12/8562
Consent	John Pow, father
Date of Certificate	19 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Shaw

212

19 December 1912

Reginald Smalley Butterfield
Annie Fyffe

Reginald Smalley Cutfield
Annie Fyffe
💍 1912/5453

Divorced
Spinster

Accountant
Domestic

32
28

Dee Street, Invercargill
Duncan Street, Invercargill

7 months
5 years

Residence of Annie Fyffe, 16 Grove Street, Invercargill

12/9096

[illegible]

19 December 1912

Rev. A. Fairmaid

No	212
Date of Notice	19 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Smalley Butterfield	Annie Fyffe
BDM Match (93%)	Reginald Smalley Cutfield	Annie Fyffe
	💍 1912/5453
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Domestic
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, Invercargill	Duncan Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 months	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Annie Fyffe, 16 Grove Street, Invercargill
Folio	12/9096
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	19 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Fairmaid

213

20 December 1912

George William McLean
Alice Pink

George William McLean
Alice Pink
💍 1912/9240

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

33
32

Waianiwa, Invercargill
Waianiwa, Invercargill

4 days
5 years

Residence of John Thomas Pink, Waianiwa, Invercargill

12/8529

[illegible]

20 December 1912

Rev. A. Begg

No	213
Date of Notice	20 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William McLean	Alice Pink
	💍 1912/9240
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Waianiwa, Invercargill	Waianiwa, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Thomas Pink, Waianiwa, Invercargill
Folio	12/8529
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	20 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Begg

214

21 December 1912

John Gray
Mary Skipworth

John Gray
Mary Skipworth
💍 1912/9241

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

32
29

Wallacetown, Invercargill
Spey Road, Invercargill

32 years
29 years

Residence of Frederick Skipworth, Spey Road, Invercargill

12/8530

[illegible]

21 December 1912

Rev. A. Begg

No	214
Date of Notice	21 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Gray	Mary Skipworth
	💍 1912/9241
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Wallacetown, Invercargill	Spey Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	32 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Frederick Skipworth, Spey Road, Invercargill
Folio	12/8530
Consent	[illegible]
Date of Certificate	21 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Begg

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).