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 326

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 March 1912 Registrar Alexander Montgomery

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 February 1912

William James Hamlyn
Christina Frances Rennie

William James Hamlyn
Christina Frances Rennie
💍 1912/3852

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic Servant

26 years
21 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
15 years

Residence of Rev. A. Macaulay, Caldwell, Timaru

12/3636

1 February 1912

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	8
Date of Notice	1 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Hamlyn	Christina Frances Rennie
	💍 1912/3852
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic Servant
Age	26 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. A. Macaulay, Caldwell, Timaru
Folio	12/3636
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

6 February 1912

William Ernest Hoare
Minnie Brasell

William Ernest Hoare
Minnie Brasell
💍 1912/1410

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

28 years
28 years

Otipua
Pareora West

28 years
16 years

Residence of Mrs. Amy Brasell, Pareora West

12/1037

6 February 1912

Rev. Wm. Baumber, Methodist Minister

No	9
Date of Notice	6 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ernest Hoare	Minnie Brasell
	💍 1912/1410
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	28 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Otipua	Pareora West
Length of Residence	28 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Amy Brasell, Pareora West
Folio	12/1037
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Baumber, Methodist Minister

17 February 1912

James Gemmet Freeman
Julia Murphy

James Kennet Freeman
Julia Murphy
💍 1912/1423

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic Servant

42 years
38 years

Timaru
Timaru

20 years
11 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

12/1049

17 February 1912

Dean Lubmaw, Roman Catholic Priest

No	10
Date of Notice	17 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gemmet Freeman	Julia Murphy
BDM Match (93%)	James Kennet Freeman	Julia Murphy
	💍 1912/1423
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic Servant
Age	42 years	38 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	20 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	12/1049
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Dean Lubmaw, Roman Catholic Priest

13 February 1912

John O'Leary
Mary Magdalene Leary

John O'Leary
Mary Magdalen Leary
💍 1912/8

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker
Dressmaker

34 years
31 years

Timaru
Timaru

11 years
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

12/1050

13 February 1912

Dean Lubmaw, Roman Catholic Priest

No	11
Date of Notice	13 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John O'Leary	Mary Magdalene Leary
BDM Match (98%)	John O'Leary	Mary Magdalen Leary
	💍 1912/8
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker	Dressmaker
Age	34 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	11 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	12/1050
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Dean Lubmaw, Roman Catholic Priest

24 February 1912

John Cormack
Josephine Myer

John Cormack
Josephine Myer
💍 1912/9

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Domestic Duties

31 years
19 years

Timaru
Timaru

2 years
12 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

12/1051

Henry Hermin Myer (Father)

24 February 1912

Dean Lubmaw, Roman Catholic Priest

No	12
Date of Notice	24 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Cormack	Josephine Myer
	💍 1912/9
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Domestic Duties
Age	31 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	2 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	12/1051
Consent	Henry Hermin Myer (Father)
Date of Certificate	24 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Dean Lubmaw, Roman Catholic Priest

21 February 1912

Henry Ralph Pickford
Isabella Aitken Black

Henry Ralph Pikford
Isabella Aitken Black
💍 1912/3853

Bachelor
Spinster

Shop Assistant
Lady Help

23 years
21 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 years
1 year

Dwellinghouse of Bridegroom, Dee St., Timaru

12/3637

21 February 1912

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	13
Date of Notice	21 February 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Ralph Pickford	Isabella Aitken Black
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Ralph Pikford	Isabella Aitken Black
	💍 1912/3853
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shop Assistant	Lady Help
Age	23 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Bridegroom, Dee St., Timaru
Folio	12/3637
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

2 March 1912

Henry Forman Anstey
Clara Wreford

Henry Norman Austey
Clara Wreford
💍 1912/1419

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household Duties

21 years
22 years

Otipua
Timaru

30 years
3 days

St. Mary's English Church, Timaru

12/1045

2 March 1912

Rev. Stanley Stinson, Church of England Clergyman

No	14
Date of Notice	2 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Forman Anstey	Clara Wreford
BDM Match (95%)	Henry Norman Austey	Clara Wreford
	💍 1912/1419
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household Duties
Age	21 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Otipua	Timaru
Length of Residence	30 years	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	12/1045
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Stanley Stinson, Church of England Clergyman

6 March 1912

George Cromie
Alice May Anderson

George Cromie
Alice Mary Anderson
💍 1912/1414

Bachelor
Divorced

Blacksmith
Barmaid

23 years
28 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 days

Dwellinghouse of Rev. G. Stinson, Timaru

12/1041

6 March 1912

Rev. Thomas Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	15
Date of Notice	6 March 1912
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Cromie	Alice May Anderson
BDM Match (97%)	George Cromie	Alice Mary Anderson
	💍 1912/1414
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Blacksmith	Barmaid
Age	23 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Rev. G. Stinson, Timaru
Folio	12/1041
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1912
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

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).