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 448

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1912

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

19 February 1912

Ernest Stansfield Calverley
Jean Cuthbertson Edgar

Ernest Stansfield Calverley
Jean Cuthbertson Edgar
💍 1912/621

Bachelor
Spinster

Confectioner

25 years
22 years

Roslyn
Dunedin

23 years
18 months

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

12/244

19 February 1912

H. Maxwell

No	97
Date of Notice	19 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Stansfield Calverley	Jean Cuthbertson Edgar
	💍 1912/621
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Confectioner
Age	25 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Dunedin
Length of Residence	23 years	18 months
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	12/244
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 February 1912
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

21 February 1912

Henry William Brookes
Mary Isabella Lewis

Henry William Brookes
Mary Isabella Lewis
💍 1912/1270

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

24 years
19 years

Maori Hill
North East Valley

24 years
19 years

In Knox Church, Dunedin

12/879

Tom Lewis, father

21 February 1912

R. E. Davies

No	98
Date of Notice	21 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Brookes	Mary Isabella Lewis
	💍 1912/1270
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	24 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Maori Hill	North East Valley
Length of Residence	24 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In Knox Church, Dunedin
Folio	12/879
Consent	Tom Lewis, father
Date of Certificate	21 February 1912
Officiating Minister	R. E. Davies

22 February 1912

Henry John Potter
Christina Lydia Cox

Henry John Potter
Christina Lydia Cox
💍 1912/1238

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Tailoress

28 years
22 years

North East Valley
North East Valley

20 years
8 years

In the house of Mr. R. Gebbie, 473 Great King Street, Dunedin

12/938

22 February 1912

R. Gebbie

No	99
Date of Notice	22 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Potter	Christina Lydia Cox
	💍 1912/1238
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Tailoress
Age	28 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	North East Valley
Length of Residence	20 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. R. Gebbie, 473 Great King Street, Dunedin
Folio	12/938
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1912
Officiating Minister	R. Gebbie

100

23 February 1912

James Jamieson
Ivy Bessie Bayley

James Jamieson
Ivy Bessie Bayley
💍 1912/623

Bachelor
Spinster

Importer

27 years
18 years

Maori Hill
Dunedin

18 months
5 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

12/245

Mary Bayley, mother

23 February 1912

H. Maxwell

No	100
Date of Notice	23 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Jamieson	Ivy Bessie Bayley
	💍 1912/623
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Importer
Age	27 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Maori Hill	Dunedin
Length of Residence	18 months	5 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	12/245
Consent	Mary Bayley, mother
Date of Certificate	23 February 1912
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

101

23 February 1912

Victor Robert Crawshaw
May Lucy Bayley

Victor Robert Crawshaw
May Lucy Bayley
💍 1912/1244

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

24 years
25 years

North East Valley
Dunedin

11 years
25 years

In All Saints Church, Dunedin

12/944

23 February 1912

A. R. Fitchett

No	101
Date of Notice	23 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Victor Robert Crawshaw	May Lucy Bayley
	💍 1912/1244
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	24 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	Dunedin
Length of Residence	11 years	25 years
Marriage Place	In All Saints Church, Dunedin
Folio	12/944
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1912
Officiating Minister	A. R. Fitchett

102

23 February 1912

James Andrew Gaww Sermon
Violet Beatrice Sermon

James Andrew Gawn
Violet Beatrice Sermon
💍 1912/2069

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

27 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

27 years
18 months

In St. Josephs Cathedral, Dunedin

12/1734

23 February 1912

Wm. Corcoran

No	102
Date of Notice	23 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Andrew Gaww Sermon	Violet Beatrice Sermon
BDM Match (85%)	James Andrew Gawn	Violet Beatrice Sermon
	💍 1912/2069
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	27 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	27 years	18 months
Marriage Place	In St. Josephs Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	12/1734
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Wm. Corcoran

103

23 February 1912

Angus McLeod
Fanny Kaan

Angus McLeod
Fanny Kaan
💍 1912/624

Bachelor
Spinster

Horsetrainer

30 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

12/246

23 February 1912

H. Maxwell

No	103
Date of Notice	23 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Angus McLeod	Fanny Kaan
	💍 1912/624
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horsetrainer
Age	30 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	12/246
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1912
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

104

23 February 1912

John George Patz
Janet Cassels

John George Putze
Janet Cassels
💍 1912/1275

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

25 years
16 years

North East Valley
North East Valley

5 years
10 years

In the Baptist Church, North East Valley

12/880

Janet Cassels, Mother

23 February 1912

D. S. Mason

No	104
Date of Notice	23 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John George Patz	Janet Cassels
BDM Match (94%)	John George Putze	Janet Cassels
	💍 1912/1275
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	25 years	16 years
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	North East Valley
Length of Residence	5 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the Baptist Church, North East Valley
Folio	12/880
Consent	Janet Cassels, Mother
Date of Certificate	23 February 1912
Officiating Minister	D. S. Mason

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).