URGENT: William Brown married: Mary Jane McLachlan, Otago-New Zealand 1800's

[Lucy2]

... lovely idea as a birthday gift, Hannah ... but it's difficult to confirm accuracy without purchasing at least a few BDM records (... as I think has already been mentioned) . 

You can purchase a "Printout" of a BD or M event ... and this can be sent fairly quickly to you via email.

Just a suggestion    ... the Marriage record (Printout) for William BROWN and Mary Jane McLACHLAN - 1912 - would give you a good deal of additional information (all of it provided by the bride and groom).   Provision was made at that time (1912) for the record to include > birth places of the parties who were marrying / the names of each of their mothers and fathers / the occupations of their fathers / the maiden surnames of their mothers.
Also ... the witnesses to the marriage may well have been family members ... and from that information, you may find a whole lot more. 

    ~  Lu   

[spades]

Hi HannahM,

If you have a deadline to acquire definitive information about William BROWN and Mary MCLACHLAN I suggest that you follow Shanreagh's advice and order a printout (i.e. a copy of the original document) of the 1912 marriage certificate from NZ BDM.

Ditto for the marriage of Vera Edith Victoria TIPPETT.

The certificate should provide the names and occupations of their parents as well as the birthplaces and ages of both parties. For a list of what should appear in a post-1880 marriage certificate see;
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=259108.0

NZ BDM can email the document to you but as this can take ten working days you should contact them immediately to achieve your deadline. Make sure you request a printout, otherwise you will receive only a transcription record.
https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search/

Spades

[spades]

Snap, Lucy2.

[Lucy2]

 

[Lucy2]

Ditto for the marriage of Vera Edith Victoria TIPPETT.

Spades

Mmm ... the first marriage of Vera E.V. TIPPETT  (to A.A. BROWN) occurred in the 1940's, and so it will not be classed as "an Historical record".   You would need to look at the details for purchasing non-historical BDM records at this link >>
https://www.bdmonline.dia.govt.nz/NonHistoricRecords

   ~  Lu

[Lucy2]

William Brown b: 1886  d:1957
Mary Jane Brown (nee McLachlan) b: 1881 d:1962    Both buried in Clinton, South Island
Married 02/01/1912, and later divorced in 1955, Invercargill

Hi Hannah

Are you sure this couple divorced ??   
It seems you have probably mixed up the divorce of their son Alexander Arthur BROWN (from Vera Edith V.) in which proceedings began in 1955 with the Decree Absolute handed down in 1956. ??

Here is a link to the Probate record of William BROWN 1957.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C915-J7KV-L?i=757&cc=1865481

You will see that Probate was granted in 1957 to ("his wife") Mary Jane BROWN, widow of Clinton,
she being the same person (wife) as mentioned in his will dated 1951.

   ~  Lu

[Lucy2]

There was also a Probate file for Mary Jane BROWN, although unfortunately it doesn't give a lot of useful family information.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSMY-2PZ9?i=253&cc=1865481

   ~  Lu

[Lucy2]

The following is information for the family of your Mary Jane McLACHLAN (b.c. 1881 - wife of William BROWN ).

If you go to NZ BDM online today (the site is not currently responding to searches probably because information is being uploaded - Sunday evening - quiet time   ) you will be able to find the birth of Mary Jane McLACHLAN registered 1881, and confirm the names of her parents.
[Her birth does show up in the NZ Birth Index (available at ancestry.com) ... registered 1881 at Popotunoa.  This listing though does not give names of parents so you have to check for those at NZ BDM (online). ]

Also registered at Popotunoa were other McLACHLAN children (1878 thru to 1882) and by following two of them, I was able to locate what I thought were also the parents of Mary Jane.

    ~  Lu
 

[Lucy2]

The following is the Probate record for a Donald Alexander McLACHLAN of Clinton, Builder, ... who most certainly is the father of Mary Jane BROWN.   

See # 2. of his Will ... (reference to) my daughter Mary Jane, wife of William BROWN of Clinton, Builder.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9PS-VLMJ?i=402&cc=1865481

   ~  Lu