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 938

District of Wyndham Quarter ending 30 June 1912 Registrar C. H. M. Henderson

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

4 April 1912

Adam Hunter
Mary Theresa Natoba

Adam Hunter
Mary Theresa Nutsford
💍 1912/4378

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Dressmaker

32
20

Wyndham
Wyndham

Always
Always

The Church of England, Wyndham

12/3873

4 April 1912

Rev. W. H. R. Blathwayt, Wyndham

No	4
Date of Notice	4 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam Hunter	Mary Theresa Natoba
BDM Match (88%)	Adam Hunter	Mary Theresa Nutsford
	💍 1912/4378
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Dressmaker
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Wyndham	Wyndham
Length of Residence	Always	Always
Marriage Place	The Church of England, Wyndham
Folio	12/3873
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. R. Blathwayt, Wyndham

6 April 1912

Robert Alexander Diek
Lilian Thuline McKay

Robert Alexander Dick
Lilias Erskine McKay
💍 1912/4374

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic

31
25

Opotiki
Wyndham

16 years
Always

The Presbyterian Church, Wyndham

12/3869

6 April 1912

Rev. A. Panter, Wyndham

No	5
Date of Notice	6 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Alexander Diek	Lilian Thuline McKay
BDM Match (85%)	Robert Alexander Dick	Lilias Erskine McKay
	💍 1912/4374
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Opotiki	Wyndham
Length of Residence	16 years	Always
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church, Wyndham
Folio	12/3869
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Panter, Wyndham

15 April 1912

Hubert Cornelius Phinn
Congers Blathwayt

Bachelor
Spinster

Priest in Holy Orders
Domestic

34
Full

Wyndham
Arrowtown

8 months
Always

St. Paul's Anglican Church, Arrowtown

12/3858

15 April 1912

Rev. H. Packe, Arrowtown

No	6
Date of Notice	15 April 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hubert Cornelius Phinn	Congers Blathwayt
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Priest in Holy Orders	Domestic
Age	34	Full
Dwelling Place	Wyndham	Arrowtown
Length of Residence	8 months	Always
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Anglican Church, Arrowtown
Folio	12/3858
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Packe, Arrowtown

6 May 1912

Roland Blair
Janet Robertson

Roland Blair
Janet Robertson
💍 1912/4584

Thomas Jeffrey
Janet Robertson
💍 1912/5725

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Domestic

35
50

Elendale
Elendale

6 years
10 years

The Residence of Mrs. Janet Robertson, Elendale

12/4276

6 May 1912

Rev. D. MacLennan, Elendale

No	7
Date of Notice	6 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Roland Blair	Janet Robertson
	💍 1912/4584
BDM Match (61%)	Thomas Jeffrey	Janet Robertson
	💍 1912/5725
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	35	50
Dwelling Place	Elendale	Elendale
Length of Residence	6 years	10 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mrs. Janet Robertson, Elendale
Folio	12/4276
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. MacLennan, Elendale

8 May 1912

James Rae Rydd
Agnes Sarah Todd

James Rae Kydd
Agnes Sarah Todd
💍 1912/4375

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

23
21

Wyndham
Menzies Ferry

1 year
Always

The Presbyterian Church, Wyndham

12/3870

8 May 1912

Rev. A. Panter, Wyndham

No	8
Date of Notice	8 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Rae Rydd	Agnes Sarah Todd
BDM Match (96%)	James Rae Kydd	Agnes Sarah Todd
	💍 1912/4375
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Wyndham	Menzies Ferry
Length of Residence	1 year	Always
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church, Wyndham
Folio	12/3870
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Panter, Wyndham

28 May 1912

Alexander Nicholson
Mary Anderson Bews

Alexander Nicolson
Mary Ann Leask Bews
💍 1912/4376

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

29
25

Croydon Siding
Mokoreta

3 months
Always

The Residence of Mr. Samuel Bews, Mokoreta

12/3871

28 May 1912

Rev. A. Panter, Wyndham

No	9
Date of Notice	28 May 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Nicholson	Mary Anderson Bews
BDM Match (82%)	Alexander Nicolson	Mary Ann Leask Bews
	💍 1912/4376
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Croydon Siding	Mokoreta
Length of Residence	3 months	Always
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. Samuel Bews, Mokoreta
Folio	12/3871
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 May 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Panter, Wyndham

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).