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 845

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 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

117

10 July 1912

John Thomas Grant
Jessie Margaret Hand

John Thomas Grant
Jessie Margaret Kane
💍 1912/5952

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Home duties

33
22

Ettrick Street, Invercargill
Ettrick Street, Invercargill

3 days
4 hours

Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

12/5140

10 July 1912

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	117
Date of Notice	10 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Grant	Jessie Margaret Hand
BDM Match (95%)	John Thomas Grant	Jessie Margaret Kane
	💍 1912/5952
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Home duties
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Ettrick Street, Invercargill	Ettrick Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	4 hours
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	12/5140
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

118

12 July 1912

Walter John King
Bridget Josephine Shea

Walter John King
Bridget Josephine Shea
💍 1912/7860

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic

37
28

Ettrick Street, Invercargill
Teviot Street, Invercargill

7 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

12/6216

12 July 1912

Very Rev. W. Burke

No	118
Date of Notice	12 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter John King	Bridget Josephine Shea
	💍 1912/7860
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic
Age	37	28
Dwelling Place	Ettrick Street, Invercargill	Teviot Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	12/6216
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burke

119

15 July 1912

Andrew Cleland Chiller
Edith Rachel Lindsay

Andrew Cleland Millar
Edith Rachel Lindsay
💍 1912/5314

Bachelor
Spinster

Party Cook
Domestic

25
28

Dee Street, Invercargill
Dee Street, Invercargill

25 years
28 years

Residence of The Registrar, Invercargill

12/8844

15 July 1912

Rev. W. Engg

No	119
Date of Notice	15 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Cleland Chiller	Edith Rachel Lindsay
BDM Match (93%)	Andrew Cleland Millar	Edith Rachel Lindsay
	💍 1912/5314
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Party Cook	Domestic
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, Invercargill	Dee Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Residence of The Registrar, Invercargill
Folio	12/8844
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Engg

120

15 July 1912

Albert Alfred Thomas
Joan Young

Albert Alfred Thomas
Joann Young
💍 1912/4801

Robert Henry Potts
Jean Young
💍 1913/4668

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Fireman
Domestic

25
21

Dee Street, Invercargill
Kelvin Road, Invercargill

25 years
3 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

12/4599

15 July 1912

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	120
Date of Notice	15 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Alfred Thomas	Joan Young
BDM Match (95%)	Albert Alfred Thomas	Joann Young
	💍 1912/4801
BDM Match (68%)	Robert Henry Potts	Jean Young
	💍 1913/4668
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Fireman	Domestic
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, Invercargill	Kelvin Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	12/4599
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

121

15 July 1912

David Love Maclaren
Elizabeth Doe Maclaren

Widower
Widow

Controller
Companions help

53
51

Tay Street, Invercargill
Main Street, Invercargill

15 months
2 months

Wesleyan Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

12/8844

15 July 1912

Rev. W. Grigg

No	121
Date of Notice	15 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Love Maclaren	Elizabeth Doe Maclaren
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Controller	Companions help
Age	53	51
Dwelling Place	Tay Street, Invercargill	Main Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	15 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	12/8844
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Grigg

122

16 July 1912

Charles McDonald
Harriet Humphrey

Charles McDonald
Harriet Humphries Norrie
💍 1912/5953

Bachelor
Spinster

General Storeman
Milliner

28
22

Eye Street, Invercargill
Eye Street, Invercargill

3 months
18 years

Residence of John Norris, Eye Street, Invercargill

12/5141

16 July 1912

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	122
Date of Notice	16 July 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles McDonald	Harriet Humphrey
BDM Match (81%)	Charles McDonald	Harriet Humphries Norrie
	💍 1912/5953
BDM Match (81%)	Charles McDonald	Harriet Humphries Norrie
	💍 1912/5953
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	General Storeman	Milliner
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Eye Street, Invercargill	Eye Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 months	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Norris, Eye Street, Invercargill
Folio	12/5141
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 July 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

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).