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 665

District of Oamaru Quarter ending 31 March 1912 Registrar Alexander Adam Main

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

3020

11 March 1912

James Duncan McLennan Wilson
Mabel Cooke

James Duncan McLennan Wilson
Mabel Cook
💍 1912/20

Bachelor
Spinster

Clergyman

29
33

Weston
North East Valley, Dunedin

3 months
3 months

Saint Andrews Church at Dunedin

12/1712

11 March 1912

Rev. Michael Watt

No	3020
Date of Notice	11 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Duncan McLennan Wilson	Mabel Cooke
BDM Match (95%)	James Duncan McLennan Wilson	Mabel Cook
	💍 1912/20
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clergyman
Age	29	33
Dwelling Place	Weston	North East Valley, Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Saint Andrews Church at Dunedin
Folio	12/1712
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Michael Watt

3021

11 March 1912

Albert Edward Collett
Jessie Moore

Albert Edward Callitt
Jessie Moore
💍 1912/4418

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

23
19

Oamaru
Oamaru

3 years
19 years

At the residence of John Moore, Newborough

12/1423

John Moore, father

11 March 1912

Rev. Robert Jas Porter

No	3021
Date of Notice	11 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Collett	Jessie Moore
BDM Match (95%)	Albert Edward Callitt	Jessie Moore
	💍 1912/4418
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 years	19 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of John Moore, Newborough
Folio	12/1423
Consent	John Moore, father
Date of Certificate	11 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Jas Porter

3022

15 March 1912

Robert Dinsmore Millar
Mary Ann Robinson Ingram

Robert Dinsmore Millar
Mary Ann Robinson Ingram
💍 1912/1692

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
31

Governor's Bay
Richmond

5 days
16 years

At the residence of Mr. Thomas, Lyttelton

12/1427

15 March 1912

Rev. John Steven

No	3022
Date of Notice	15 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Dinsmore Millar	Mary Ann Robinson Ingram
	💍 1912/1692
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Governor's Bay	Richmond
Length of Residence	5 days	16 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mr. Thomas, Lyttelton
Folio	12/1427
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Steven

3023

19 March 1912

John McKay Ballantyne
Annie May Allison Simpson

John McKay Ballantyne
Annie May Allison Simpson
💍 1912/417

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraph Lineman

37
22

Present: Oamaru, Usual: Dunedin
Oamaru

3 days
22 years

In the Church of Christ at Oamaru

12/1117

19 March 1912

Rev. H. G. Harward

No	3023
Date of Notice	19 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McKay Ballantyne	Annie May Allison Simpson
	💍 1912/417
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraph Lineman
Age	37	22
Dwelling Place	Present: Oamaru, Usual: Dunedin	Oamaru
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	In the Church of Christ at Oamaru
Folio	12/1117
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Harward

3024

19 March 1912

Christopher Mulligan
Margaret Robinson

Christopher Mulligan
Margaret Robinson
💍 1912/2011

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
17

South Oamaru
North Road, Oamaru

7 years
7 years

In the Roman Catholic Church, Oamaru

12/1698

Rose Robinson, mother

19 March 1912

Rev. Alexander Farthing

No	3024
Date of Notice	19 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Christopher Mulligan	Margaret Robinson
	💍 1912/2011
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	17
Dwelling Place	South Oamaru	North Road, Oamaru
Length of Residence	7 years	7 years
Marriage Place	In the Roman Catholic Church, Oamaru
Folio	12/1698
Consent	Rose Robinson, mother
Date of Certificate	19 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Alexander Farthing

3025

22 March 1912

Robert Buchanan Irvine
Alice Helen Hutchison

Robert Buchanan Irvine
Alice Helen Hutchison
💍 1912/416

Bachelor
Spinster

Company Manager

30
22

Oamaru
Oamaru

4 years
4 years

At St. Luke's Church, Oamaru

12/1116

22 March 1912

Rev. John Delacourt Russell

No	3025
Date of Notice	22 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Buchanan Irvine	Alice Helen Hutchison
	💍 1912/416
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Company Manager
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Oamaru	Oamaru
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	At St. Luke's Church, Oamaru
Folio	12/1116
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Delacourt Russell

3026

26 March 1912

William Harvey Farquhar
Florence Timblick

William Harvey Farquhar
Florence Trinblick
💍 1912/10

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee

25
22

Usual: Hawera, Present: Oamaru
Usual: Maheno, Present: Oamaru

1 week
1 week

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Oamaru

12/1115

26 March 1912

Rev. James Standring

No	3026
Date of Notice	26 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Harvey Farquhar	Florence Timblick
BDM Match (94%)	William Harvey Farquhar	Florence Trinblick
	💍 1912/10
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Usual: Hawera, Present: Oamaru	Usual: Maheno, Present: Oamaru
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Oamaru
Folio	12/1115
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Standring

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).