Intentions to Marry, 1892

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840404, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, May 28 2025

Page 017

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 December 1892 Registrar J. W. Wilkin

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

25 October 1892

John Grant
Mary Corkin

John Grant
Mary Corkin
💍 1892/3707

Bachelor
Spinster

Ganger

34
24

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
10 days

Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill

92/3881

25 October 1892

Rev. E. Vereker

No	88
Date of Notice	25 October 1892
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Grant	Mary Corkin
	💍 1892/3707
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ganger
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	10 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill
Folio	92/3881
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 October 1892
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Vereker

4 November 1892

Henry John Lang
Mary Young Butler

Henry John Lang
Mary Young Butler
💍 1892/3709

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
22

Forest Hill
Wallacetown

25 years
10 years

House of Mrs Agnes Butler, Wallacetown

92/3883

4 November 1892

Rev. W. White

No	89
Date of Notice	4 November 1892
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Lang	Mary Young Butler
	💍 1892/3709
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Forest Hill	Wallacetown
Length of Residence	25 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Agnes Butler, Wallacetown
Folio	92/3883
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1892
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. White

5 November 1892

William Martin
Elsie McKissack Reid

William Martin
Elsie McKissack Reid
💍 1892/3718

Widower
Widow

48
48

Georgetown
Invercargill

17 years
30 years

House of Mrs Reid, Tweed Street, Invercargill

92/3891

5 November 1892

Rev. A. H. Stobo

No	90
Date of Notice	5 November 1892
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Martin	Elsie McKissack Reid
	💍 1892/3718
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession
Age	48	48
Dwelling Place	Georgetown	Invercargill
Length of Residence	17 years	30 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Reid, Tweed Street, Invercargill
Folio	92/3891
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1892
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. H. Stobo

5 November 1892

William Nichol Wilson
Elizabeth Stewart

William Nichol Wilson
Elizabeth Stewart
💍 1892/3714

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

23
25

Invercargill
Invercargill

14 years
25 years

House of Mr David Stewart, Yarrow Street, Invercargill

92/3887

5 November 1892

Rev. George Lindsay

No	91
Date of Notice	5 November 1892
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Nichol Wilson	Elizabeth Stewart
	💍 1892/3714
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	14 years	25 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr David Stewart, Yarrow Street, Invercargill
Folio	92/3887
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1892
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Lindsay

8 November 1892

William Nicol Jr.
Clara Bennett

William Nicol
Clara Bennett
💍 1892/3711

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker

22
22

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 weeks
3 weeks

House of Mr Wm. Nicol, Clyde Street, Invercargill

92/3885

8 November 1892

Rev. George Lindsay

No	92
Date of Notice	8 November 1892
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Nicol Jr.	Clara Bennett
BDM Match (88%)	William Nicol	Clara Bennett
	💍 1892/3711
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	House of Mr Wm. Nicol, Clyde Street, Invercargill
Folio	92/3885
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 November 1892
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Lindsay

8 November 1892

Albert Wylie
Kate Grace Thompson

Albert Wylie
Kate Grace Thompson
💍 1892/3713

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

20
22

Invercargill
Invercargill

20 years
20 years

House of Mr Adam Thompson, Biggar Street, Invercargill

92/3886

Ellen Wylie, Mother

8 November 1892

Rev. George Lindsay

No	93
Date of Notice	8 November 1892
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Wylie	Kate Grace Thompson
	💍 1892/3713
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	20	22
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Adam Thompson, Biggar Street, Invercargill
Folio	92/3886
Consent	Ellen Wylie, Mother
Date of Certificate	8 November 1892
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Lindsay

10 November 1892

Samuel McNatty
Elizabeth Cockburn

Samuel McNatty
Elizabeth Cockburn
💍 1892/3725

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner

26
19

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 days
15 years

House of Mrs Jarvie, Crinan Street, Invercargill

92/3875

Mary Jarvie, Mother of Elizabeth Cockburn

10 November 1892

Rev. John Ferguson

No	94
Date of Notice	10 November 1892
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel McNatty	Elizabeth Cockburn
	💍 1892/3725
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Jarvie, Crinan Street, Invercargill
Folio	92/3875
Consent	Mary Jarvie, Mother of Elizabeth Cockburn
Date of Certificate	10 November 1892
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Ferguson

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).