This register includes all known Presbyterian Marriages for the southern New Zealand provinces of Otago & Southland from 1848 to 1920 but excluding First Church Invercargill which are indexed in a non-standard computer database.

The original version of this register (on hard copy and fiche) compiled by Eleanor Leckie and Janice Poskitt in 1990 has 39,700 entries with over 12,000 entries having been subsequently indexed to date. As entries are still to be added to this database please check back from time to time. While we hold computer databases of many post 1920 Otago & Southland marriages, it is not our intention to place these details on our web site however we are happy to perform a search upon request. 

***Credit Card Payments Now Accepted***

The information on this marriages database may be freely used but only for non-commercial purposes.

As a general rule, information included on certificates to 1880 will include : 

Subsequent to the passing of "The Marriage Act 1880" in September 1880, marriage certificates from this date may include the following additional information : 

• New Zealand Residents : Copies of cerificates cost NZD $17.00 each plus .50 cents postage per order within New Zealand (or include a standard sized stamped addressed envelope). Payment may be immediately made by secure credit card payment (details appear below) or by cheque made out to "The Historical Records Committee" and mailed to the address below.
• Australian Residents Only : Copies of certificates cost NZD $17.00 each plus NZD $1.50 air postage. Payment may be immediately made by secure credit card payment (details appear below) or by personal cheque or bank draft in Australian currency (if paying by cheque please email us first for amount required at current exchange rates).
• All Other Countries : Copies of certificates cost NZD $17.00 each plus NZD $2.00 air postage. Payment may be immediately made by secure credit card payment (details appear below). In certain cases we can accept personal cheques in foreign currency. Please email us for full details.

• NZ Government Goods & Services Tax : All amounts quoted above include Goods & Services Tax [GST] of 12.5%

• Certificates Still Held by Parishes or Museums : Where registers are still held by the Parish or local museum this will be specifically noted on the relevant web page. In such cases full payment, including the relevant postage charge, should only be made out to and sent to the Parish or Museum indicated. Please click HERE for a list of contact names and addresses. If in doubt please contact us first.

• Payments by Cheque : Only where it does not indicate on the rolls that the certificate(s) are held elsewhere, payment should be made out to the "The Historical Records Committee" and posted to :

The Research Archivist 
Archives Research Centre
Knox College
Arden Street
Opoho
Dunedin 9010
New Zealand

• Credit Card Payments : We welcome payments by Visa, Mastercard [Access], and American Express. Your credit card details will be fully encrypted during processing by the "PayPal" secure server. At no stage are your credit card details divulged either to ourselves or any third party. Please note that payments made via "PayPal" will incur a fee of 3.4% on the total transaction amount up to NZD$99.99 and 3% for all amounts over NZD$100.00 This amount is to partially cover Paypal transaction fees and will add around NZD .53 cents to the cost of one certificate. The total amount payable will be quoted prior to 'checkout'. Please use the 'Paypal' payment facility only for certificates held by the Archives Research Centre. If in doubt please email us first :

***Important - Please Read before Ordering***

We will endeavour to send you a photocopy of the original marriage certificate except where :

• We only hold transcriptions of the entries.
• The original register is damaged or too fragile to handle.
• The original certificate itself is in fact a transcription.
• The entry is too faded to satisfactorily photocopy.
• Should you forward payment to us and we only hold a transcription we will then automatically assume (without further notice) that you only require a full transcription.
• In all the above cases a full transcription only will be supplied.
• Due to the amount of work involved in casual enquiries we regret that we are unable to supply any additional information from certificates without payment of either the standard charge (as below) to obtain a copy of the actual certificate or payment of a research fee (minimum NZ$22.50).

An asterisk * after the Parish Code denotes known missing or damaged registers - refer to "Lost Archives" link on the Presbyterian Church Archives Main Web Site for additional information. You may still apply for a copy of any missing certificate from the Registrar of Births, Deaths & Marriages (currently NZ$26.00 for a copy of the original document). 

Searching : Please click on Parish links below or enter your search request into our on-site search engine. The search engine will only display results for Otago & Southland Marriages.  

powered by FreeFind

Disclaimer : As all entries may not have been thoroughly checked and in some cases the original hand writing has been difficult to decipher, these rolls may contain occasional errors. Please notify us should you note any such errors. Should spelling differ from that on the actual certificate we will enter both spellings on this database. Finally, before ordering any certificates, please read the important notes highlighted in red further up this page.