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 916

District of Riverton Quarter ending 30 September 1912 Registrar Hugh Mc Neile Gordon

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

867

3 July 1912

Donald Campbell Robertson
Ruth MacLachlan

Donald Campbell Robertson
Ruth Maclachlan
💍 1912/7763

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Domestic duties

25
24

Riverton
Dunedin

25 years
6 months

At the Presbyterian Church, Roslyn, Dunedin

12/5920

Rev. Wm. Gray Diam (Presbyterian)

No	867
Date of Notice	3 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Campbell Robertson	Ruth MacLachlan
BDM Match (97%)	Donald Campbell Robertson	Ruth Maclachlan
	💍 1912/7763
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Domestic duties
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Dunedin
Length of Residence	25 years	6 months
Marriage Place	At the Presbyterian Church, Roslyn, Dunedin
Folio	12/5920
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Gray Diam (Presbyterian)

868

10 July 1912

Robert Henry Good
Elizabeth Rose Dutton

Robert Henry Todd
Elizabeth Rose Dutton
💍 1912/5836

Bachelor
Spinster

Cheese maker
Domestic duties

24
18

Mataura
Bolac Bay

3 days
1 year

The private house of Mr. W. Wybrow, Riverton

12/5173

Henry William Dutton (father)

10 July 1912

Rev. W. G. Hooper (Wesleyan)

No	868
Date of Notice	10 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Good	Elizabeth Rose Dutton
BDM Match (94%)	Robert Henry Todd	Elizabeth Rose Dutton
	💍 1912/5836
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheese maker	Domestic duties
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Mataura	Bolac Bay
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	The private house of Mr. W. Wybrow, Riverton
Folio	12/5173
Consent	Henry William Dutton (father)
Date of Certificate	10 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Hooper (Wesleyan)

869

27 July 1912

John McKinley Phillips
Annie Mercy Boncher

John McKinley Phillips
Annie Mercy Concher
💍 1912/6309

Widower
Spinster

Surfaceman
Domestic duties

36
31

Bolac Bay
Bolac Bay

36 years
31 years

At the private residence of Miss Annie Mercy Boncher, Bolac Bay

12/5849

27 July 1912

Rev. J. E. Hopwell (Presbyterian)

No	869
Date of Notice	27 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McKinley Phillips	Annie Mercy Boncher
BDM Match (97%)	John McKinley Phillips	Annie Mercy Concher
	💍 1912/6309
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Surfaceman	Domestic duties
Age	36	31
Dwelling Place	Bolac Bay	Bolac Bay
Length of Residence	36 years	31 years
Marriage Place	At the private residence of Miss Annie Mercy Boncher, Bolac Bay
Folio	12/5849
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. E. Hopwell (Presbyterian)

870

14 August 1912

Daniel McAnslan
James Isabella Helm

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman
Domestic

30
35

Riverton
Riverton

14 days
6 months

At the private house of Mr. Thomas Helm, Riverton

12/5172

14 August 1912

Rev. G. A. Gray (Presbyterian)

No	870
Date of Notice	14 August 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel McAnslan	James Isabella Helm
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman	Domestic
Age	30	35
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	14 days	6 months
Marriage Place	At the private house of Mr. Thomas Helm, Riverton
Folio	12/5172
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. A. Gray (Presbyterian)

871

3 September 1912

Archibald McPherson
Gertrude Annie Warren Webb

Archibald McPherson
Gertrude Annie Warren Webb
💍 1912/5539

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

32
27

Orepuki
Orepuki

3 days
14 days

In the Anglican Church at Thorabury District

12/8803

3 September 1912

Rev. Jas. Morland (Church of England)

No	871
Date of Notice	3 September 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald McPherson	Gertrude Annie Warren Webb
	💍 1912/5539
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Orepuki	Orepuki
Length of Residence	3 days	14 days
Marriage Place	In the Anglican Church at Thorabury District
Folio	12/8803
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Morland (Church of England)

872

10 September 1912

John Henry Dawson
Ellen Effie Watson Elliott

John Henry Dawson
Ellen Effie Watson Elliott
💍 1912/6310

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Dressmaker

22
19

Bolac Bay
Oraki

11 years
19 years

In the Presbyterian Church at Bolac Bay

12/5850

John Elliott (Father)

10 September 1912

Rev. Geo. Falconer (Presbyterian)

No	872
Date of Notice	10 September 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Dawson	Ellen Effie Watson Elliott
	💍 1912/6310
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Dressmaker
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Bolac Bay	Oraki
Length of Residence	11 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church at Bolac Bay
Folio	12/5850
Consent	John Elliott (Father)
Date of Certificate	10 September 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Falconer (Presbyterian)

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).