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 827

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

1 March 1912

Charles Herbert Armstrong
Dorothy Blyth Smith

Charles Herbert Armstrong
Dorothy Blyth Smith
💍 1912/1967

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist

33
23

Liadel Street, Invercargill
Gladstone, Invercargill

3 years
5 years

All Saints English Church, Gladstone, Invercargill

12/1605

1 March 1912

Rev. W. Lewinburn

No	31
Date of Notice	1 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Herbert Armstrong	Dorothy Blyth Smith
	💍 1912/1967
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Liadel Street, Invercargill	Gladstone, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	All Saints English Church, Gladstone, Invercargill
Folio	12/1605
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lewinburn

1 March 1912

John McFarlane Roberts
Mary Louise Richardson

John McFarlane Mitchell
Mary Louise Richardson
💍 1912/1488

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

24
22

Devon Street, Invercargill
Tay Street, Invercargill

18 months
10 days

Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

12/1092

1 March 1912

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	32
Date of Notice	1 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McFarlane Roberts	Mary Louise Richardson
BDM Match (83%)	John McFarlane Mitchell	Mary Louise Richardson
	💍 1912/1488
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Devon Street, Invercargill	Tay Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	18 months	10 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	12/1092
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

2 March 1912

James Henry Saddler
Ellen Findlay

James Henry Sadlier
Ellen Findlay
💍 1912/1489

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

45
36

Mona Bush, Invercargill
Myrtle, Invercargill

45 years
5 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

12/1093

2 March 1912

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	33
Date of Notice	2 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Saddler	Ellen Findlay
BDM Match (95%)	James Henry Sadlier	Ellen Findlay
	💍 1912/1489
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	45	36
Dwelling Place	Mona Bush, Invercargill	Myrtle, Invercargill
Length of Residence	45 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	12/1093
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

5 March 1912

James Richard Ratt
Miranda Roberts Newman

James Richard Pratt
Mirinda Roberts Newman
💍 1912/412

Bachelor
Spinster

Law Clerk
Domestic

34
26

Invercargill
Invercargill

20 years
20 years

All Saints English Church, Gladstone, Invercargill

12/1111

5 March 1912

Rev. W. Lewinburn

No	34
Date of Notice	5 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Richard Ratt	Miranda Roberts Newman
BDM Match (93%)	James Richard Pratt	Mirinda Roberts Newman
	💍 1912/412
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Law Clerk	Domestic
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	All Saints English Church, Gladstone, Invercargill
Folio	12/1111
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Lewinburn

5 March 1912

Stanley James Roberts
Sylvia Alice Gibbs

Stanley Cameron Roberts
Sylvia Alice Sebo
💍 1912/1497

Bachelor
Spinster

Architect
Typist

23
22

Morton Road, Invercargill
Grace Street, Invercargill

23 years
22 years

Presbyterian Church, William Street, Invercargill

12/1100

5 March 1912

Rev. Archd. Stocker

No	35
Date of Notice	5 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley James Roberts	Sylvia Alice Gibbs
BDM Match (80%)	Stanley Cameron Roberts	Sylvia Alice Sebo
	💍 1912/1497
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Architect	Typist
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Morton Road, Invercargill	Grace Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	23 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, William Street, Invercargill
Folio	12/1100
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Archd. Stocker

7 March 1912

Robert Remitt Urquhart
Catherine Joan, Late J. Thomson

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic

32
37

Venus Street, Invercargill
James Street, Invercargill

5 years
10 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

12/277

7 March 1912

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	36
Date of Notice	7 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Remitt Urquhart	Catherine Joan, Late J. Thomson
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	32	37
Dwelling Place	Venus Street, Invercargill	James Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	12/277
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

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).