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 829

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 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

21 March 1912

Douglas William Spinks
Sarah Henderson

Douglas William Fern
Sarah Henderson
💍 1912/727

Bachelor
Spinster

Foreman
Domestic

22
23

Criman St, Invercargill
Criman St, Invercargill

22 years
19 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

12/278

21 March 1912

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	43
Date of Notice	21 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Douglas William Spinks	Sarah Henderson
BDM Match (89%)	Douglas William Fern	Sarah Henderson
	💍 1912/727
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Foreman	Domestic
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Criman St, Invercargill	Criman St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	22 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	12/278
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

25 March 1912

William Gatman
Frances Mary Grant

William Gatman
Frances Mary Ann Cushen
💍 1912/422

Bachelor
Spinster

Missionary

27
22

Tweed St, Invercargill
Enwood, Invercargill

3 days
22 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, Invercargill

12/1103

25 March 1912

Rev. M. Ryburn

No	44
Date of Notice	25 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gatman	Frances Mary Grant
BDM Match (78%)	William Gatman	Frances Mary Ann Cushen
	💍 1912/422
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Missionary
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Tweed St, Invercargill	Enwood, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, Invercargill
Folio	12/1103
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Ryburn

25 March 1912

Frederick Grierson Green
Jessie Agnes Boyd

Fredrick Grierson Grieve
Jessie Agnes Boyd
💍 1912/3922

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

24
23

Maianiwa, Invercargill
Maianiwa, Invercargill

24 years
3 years

Presbyterian Church, Maianiwa, Invercargill

12/3760

25 March 1912

Rev. A. Kirkland

No	45
Date of Notice	25 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Grierson Green	Jessie Agnes Boyd
BDM Match (92%)	Fredrick Grierson Grieve	Jessie Agnes Boyd
	💍 1912/3922
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Maianiwa, Invercargill	Maianiwa, Invercargill
Length of Residence	24 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Maianiwa, Invercargill
Folio	12/3760
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Kirkland

25 March 1912

George William Creeds
Margaret Maude Stiles

George William Weeds
Margaret Maude Stiles
💍 1912/429

Bachelor
Spinster

Stereotyper
Domestic

22
25

78 Forth St, Invercargill
134 Forth St, Invercargill

22 years
25 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, Invercargill

12/1104

25 March 1912

Rev. J. A. Ryburn

No	46
Date of Notice	25 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Creeds	Margaret Maude Stiles
BDM Match (95%)	George William Weeds	Margaret Maude Stiles
	💍 1912/429
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stereotyper	Domestic
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	78 Forth St, Invercargill	134 Forth St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	22 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, Invercargill
Folio	12/1104
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Ryburn

27 March 1912

Charles Henry Lemon
Victoria Margaretta McWhinney

Charles Henry Lennon
Victoria Margretta McChesney
💍 1912/1491

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Saleswoman

29
24

Erne St, Invercargill
The Crescent, Invercargill

29 years
15 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay St, Invercargill

12/1095

27 March 1912

Rev. M. Ryburn

No	47
Date of Notice	27 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Lemon	Victoria Margaretta McWhinney
BDM Match (88%)	Charles Henry Lennon	Victoria Margretta McChesney
	💍 1912/1491
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Saleswoman
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Erne St, Invercargill	The Crescent, Invercargill
Length of Residence	29 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay St, Invercargill
Folio	12/1095
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Ryburn

29 March 1912

James Burnett Holmes
Helen Netta Holmes

James Burnett
Helen Netta Holmes
💍 1912/137

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

24
22

Roy St, Invercargill
Roy St, Invercargill

19 years
22 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, Invercargill

12/3754

29 March 1912

Rev. J. A. Ryburn

No	48
Date of Notice	29 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Burnett Holmes	Helen Netta Holmes
BDM Match (83%)	James Burnett	Helen Netta Holmes
	💍 1912/137
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Roy St, Invercargill	Roy St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	19 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, Invercargill
Folio	12/3754
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. 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).