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 442

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1902

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

30 January 1902

Arthur Thomas Allison
Winifred Mary Tate

Arthur Thomas Allison
Winifred Mary Tate
💍 1912/1280

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23 years
19 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
4 months

In the house of Mr W. Walker 25 Russell Street Dunedin

12/885

Thomas Tate father

30 January 1902

R. E. Davies

No	53
Date of Notice	30 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Thomas Allison	Winifred Mary Tate
	💍 1912/1280
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr W. Walker 25 Russell Street Dunedin
Folio	12/885
Consent	Thomas Tate father
Date of Certificate	30 January 1902
Officiating Minister	R. E. Davies

31 January 1902

Joseph Nicholas Antees
Julia Elias

Joseph Nicholas Antees
Julia Elias
💍 1912/1234

Bachelor
Spinster

Shop Keeper

23 years
20 years

St Kilda
South Dunedin

6 weeks
8 months

In the Orthodox Church

12/926

Theodoro Elias father

31 January 1902

O. G. B. King

No	54
Date of Notice	31 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Nicholas Antees	Julia Elias
	💍 1912/1234
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shop Keeper
Age	23 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	St Kilda	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 weeks	8 months
Marriage Place	In the Orthodox Church
Folio	12/926
Consent	Theodoro Elias father
Date of Certificate	31 January 1902
Officiating Minister	O. G. B. King

1 February 1902

Arthur Edward Johns
Olive Muriel Wates

Arthur Edward Johns
Olive Muriel Wates
💍 1912/613

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

19 years
20 years

Dunedin
St Kilda

6 years
4 weeks

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

12/236

Thomas Johns father, Percy William Wates Guardian

1 February 1902

H. Maxwell

No	55
Date of Notice	1 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Edward Johns	Olive Muriel Wates
	💍 1912/613
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	19 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	St Kilda
Length of Residence	6 years	4 weeks
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	12/236
Consent	Thomas Johns father, Percy William Wates Guardian
Date of Certificate	1 February 1902
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

1 February 1902

Alexander Ivan Walker Wood
Harvey McCosh Smith

Alexander Ivan Walker Wood
Harney McGosh Smith
💍 1912/1266

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor

25 years
25 years

Mornington
South Dunedin

25 years
3 weeks

In the house of Mr W. Stevenson 28 Oxford Street South Dunedin

12/893

1 February 1902

J. M. Smith

No	56
Date of Notice	1 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Ivan Walker Wood	Harvey McCosh Smith
BDM Match (95%)	Alexander Ivan Walker Wood	Harney McGosh Smith
	💍 1912/1266
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor
Age	25 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Mornington	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	25 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr W. Stevenson 28 Oxford Street South Dunedin
Folio	12/893
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1902
Officiating Minister	J. M. Smith

3 February 1902

Peter Purves
Rosaline Maud Smith

Peter Purves
Rosaline Maud Smith
💍 1912/614

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

33 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 years
25 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

12/237

3 February 1902

H. Maxwell

No	57
Date of Notice	3 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Purves	Rosaline Maud Smith
	💍 1912/614
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	33 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	25 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	12/237
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1902
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

3 February 1902

William James McKay
Margaret Jane McLelland

William James McKay
Margaret Jane McLelland
💍 1912/2289

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist

31 years
25 years

Dunedin
South Dunedin

8 months
9 years

In the Presbyterian Church South Dunedin

12/1655

3 February 1902

R. Fairmaid

No	58
Date of Notice	3 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James McKay	Margaret Jane McLelland
	💍 1912/2289
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist
Age	31 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	8 months	9 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church South Dunedin
Folio	12/1655
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1902
Officiating Minister	R. Fairmaid

3 February 1902

Vincent George Bryan King
Mabel Iris Brent

Vincent George Bryann King
Mabel Iris Brent
💍 1912/1210

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk in Holy Orders
Certificated Nurse

33 years
35 years

South Dunedin
Andersons Bay

18 years
8 years

In St. Michael's Church Andersons Bay

12/910

3 February 1902

B. H. King

No	59
Date of Notice	3 February 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vincent George Bryan King	Mabel Iris Brent
BDM Match (98%)	Vincent George Bryann King	Mabel Iris Brent
	💍 1912/1210
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk in Holy Orders	Certificated Nurse
Age	33 years	35 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	Andersons Bay
Length of Residence	18 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In St. Michael's Church Andersons Bay
Folio	12/910
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1902
Officiating Minister	B. H. King

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).