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 914

District of Riverton Quarter ending 30 June 1912 Registrar Hugh McNeile Gordon Macfarlane

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

861

1 April 1912

John Thomas Grenfell
Matilda Miriam Neilson

John Thomas Grenfell
Matilda Miriam Neilson
💍 1912/3982

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill Hand
Domestic duties

25
18

Colac Bay
Colac Bay

11 years
11 years

The Presbyterian Church at Colac Bay

12/3846

Neil Neilson (father)

1 April 1912

The Revd. George Falconer (Presbyterian)

No	861
Date of Notice	1 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Grenfell	Matilda Miriam Neilson
	💍 1912/3982
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill Hand	Domestic duties
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Colac Bay	Colac Bay
Length of Residence	11 years	11 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church at Colac Bay
Folio	12/3846
Consent	Neil Neilson (father)
Date of Certificate	1 April 1912
Officiating Minister	The Revd. George Falconer (Presbyterian)

862

4 April 1912

John Lardner
Catherine Wallace

John Lardner
Catherine Wallace
💍 1912/3981

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

33
38

Waianiwa
Waianiwa

3 days
3 days

The Roman Catholic Church at Riverton

12/3845

4 April 1912

The Rev. Father Murphy (Roman Catholic)

No	862
Date of Notice	4 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lardner	Catherine Wallace
	💍 1912/3981
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	33	38
Dwelling Place	Waianiwa	Waianiwa
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church at Riverton
Folio	12/3845
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1912
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Father Murphy (Roman Catholic)

863

4 May 1912

Albert Henry Driver
Elizabeth Jane Pullar

Albert Henry Driver
Elizabeth Jane Pullar
💍 1912/3983

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller

28
21

Colac Bay
Colac Bay

4 months
4 months

At the private house of Frederick Clode, Colac Bay

12/3847

4 May 1912

The Rev. George Falconer (Presbyterian)

No	863
Date of Notice	4 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Henry Driver	Elizabeth Jane Pullar
	💍 1912/3983
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Colac Bay	Colac Bay
Length of Residence	4 months	4 months
Marriage Place	At the private house of Frederick Clode, Colac Bay
Folio	12/3847
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1912
Officiating Minister	The Rev. George Falconer (Presbyterian)

864

18 May 1912

Frederick Robert Ball
Isabel Margaret Meek

Frederick Robert Ball
Mabel Margaret Meek
💍 1912/8012

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

30
32

Invercargill
Fairfax

3 days
3 months

The residence of Mr. Robert Meek, Fairfax

12/644

18 May 1912

The Rev. John Irwin (Presbyterian)

No	864
Date of Notice	18 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Robert Ball	Isabel Margaret Meek
BDM Match (95%)	Frederick Robert Ball	Mabel Margaret Meek
	💍 1912/8012
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	30	32
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Fairfax
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. Robert Meek, Fairfax
Folio	12/644
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1912
Officiating Minister	The Rev. John Irwin (Presbyterian)

865

6 June 1912

Charles Daniel Captain
Victoria Fisher

Charles Daniel Captain
Victoria Fisher
💍 1912/3978

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Household duties

33
17

Colac Bay
Wakapatu

23 years
14 years

Residence of Mrs. Sarah Fisher, Wakapatu

12/3842

Sarah Fisher (mother)

6 June 1912

The Rev. N. F. Papakura

No	865
Date of Notice	6 June 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Daniel Captain	Victoria Fisher
	💍 1912/3978
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Household duties
Age	33	17
Dwelling Place	Colac Bay	Wakapatu
Length of Residence	23 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Sarah Fisher, Wakapatu
Folio	12/3842
Consent	Sarah Fisher (mother)
Date of Certificate	6 June 1912
Officiating Minister	The Rev. N. F. Papakura

866

25 June 1912

John Stevens
Catherine Goodwillie

John Stevens
Catherine Goodwillie
💍 1912/3980

Bachelor
Spinster

Cheesemaker
Domestic duties

24
21

Pahia
Riverton

2 years
21 years

In the Wesleyan Church at Riverton

12/3844

25 June 1912

The Rev. W. G. Hooper (Wesleyan)

No	866
Date of Notice	25 June 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Stevens	Catherine Goodwillie
	💍 1912/3980
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheesemaker	Domestic duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Pahia	Riverton
Length of Residence	2 years	21 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Church at Riverton
Folio	12/3844
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 June 1912
Officiating Minister	The Rev. W. G. Hooper (Wesleyan)

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).