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 918

District of Riverton Quarter ending 31 December 1912 Registrar Riverton 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

874

4 October 1912

John Cunningham
Margaret Jane Morrison

John Cunningham
Margaret Jane Morrison
💍 1912/5618

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's assistant
Domestic duties

26
24

Riverton
Invercargill

26 years
13 days

The Gladstone Anglican Church at Invercargill

12/9180

7 October 1912

Rev. James Borland (Church of England)

No	874
Date of Notice	4 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Cunningham	Margaret Jane Morrison
	💍 1912/5618
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's assistant	Domestic duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Invercargill
Length of Residence	26 years	13 days
Marriage Place	The Gladstone Anglican Church at Invercargill
Folio	12/9180
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Borland (Church of England)

875

8 October 1912

John Nicol
Mary Kuri

John Nicol
Mary Kuri
💍 1912/8880

Widower
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

72
70

Colac Bay
Colac Bay

40 years
70 years

At the private residence of William Blox

12/8513

8 October 1912

Rev. George Falconer (Presbyterian)

No	875
Date of Notice	8 October 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Nicol	Mary Kuri
	💍 1912/8880
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	72	70
Dwelling Place	Colac Bay	Colac Bay
Length of Residence	40 years	70 years
Marriage Place	At the private residence of William Blox
Folio	12/8513
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Falconer (Presbyterian)

876

23 November 1912

Edward Richard James Stevens
Edith Florence Jones

Edward Richard James Stevens
Edith Florence Jones
💍 1912/9246

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

26
20

Riverton
Kennington, Invercargill

26 years
5 years

At the private residence of Mr. William Jones

12/8535

William Jones (Father)

23 November 1912

Rev. F. Pack (Church of England)

No	876
Date of Notice	23 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Richard James Stevens	Edith Florence Jones
	💍 1912/9246
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Kennington, Invercargill
Length of Residence	26 years	5 years
Marriage Place	At the private residence of Mr. William Jones
Folio	12/8535
Consent	William Jones (Father)
Date of Certificate	23 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Pack (Church of England)

877

23 November 1912

John Henry Bickley
Flora McLeod

John Henry Bickley
Flora Macleod
💍 1912/8913

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

35
32

Otaitai Bush
Waimatuku

13 months
32 years

In the private house of Alfred Bickley

12/8572

23 November 1912

Rev. R. S. Gray (Presbyterian)

No	877
Date of Notice	23 November 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Bickley	Flora McLeod
BDM Match (92%)	John Henry Bickley	Flora Macleod
	💍 1912/8913
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	35	32
Dwelling Place	Otaitai Bush	Waimatuku
Length of Residence	13 months	32 years
Marriage Place	In the private house of Alfred Bickley
Folio	12/8572
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. S. Gray (Presbyterian)

878

7 December 1912

Herbert Cleaver
Catherine Wilson

Herbert Cleaver
Catherine Wilson
💍 1912/5598

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Housemaid

20
20

Colac Bay
Colac Bay

15 years
13 months

At the private residence of Mrs. Sarah Cleaver

12/9160

Sarah Cleaver (Mother)

7 December 1912

Rev. George Falconer (Presbyterian)

No	878
Date of Notice	7 December 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Cleaver	Catherine Wilson
	💍 1912/5598
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Housemaid
Age	20	20
Dwelling Place	Colac Bay	Colac Bay
Length of Residence	15 years	13 months
Marriage Place	At the private residence of Mrs. Sarah Cleaver
Folio	12/9160
Consent	Sarah Cleaver (Mother)
Date of Certificate	7 December 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Falconer (Presbyterian)

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).