Intentions to Marry, 1905 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840429, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1905 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1905a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1905b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1905c).

Page 592

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 1905 Registrar John E. Taylor

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

26 April 1905

John Grigor
Isabella Sutherland Macdonald

John Grigor
Isabella Sutherland Macdonald
💍 1905/1046

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

34
29

Elles Road, South Invercargill
Elles Road, South Invercargill

3 days
6 years

Residence of J. A. Macdonald, Elles Road, South Invercargill

05/3430

26 April 1905

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	53
Date of Notice	26 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Grigor	Isabella Sutherland Macdonald
	💍 1905/1046
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Elles Road, South Invercargill	Elles Road, South Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. A. Macdonald, Elles Road, South Invercargill
Folio	05/3430
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

26 April 1905

Donald Charles Cameron Jr.
Frances Helen Raines

Donald Charles Cameron Jnr
Frances Helen Raines
💍 1905/1058

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

27
28

Invercargill, Bowmont Street
Invercargill, Biggar Street

4 days
28 years

St. Paul's Methodist Church

05/3418

26 April 1905

Rev. H. A. Sinclair

No	54
Date of Notice	26 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Charles Cameron Jr.	Frances Helen Raines
BDM Match (96%)	Donald Charles Cameron Jnr	Frances Helen Raines
	💍 1905/1058
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Invercargill, Bowmont Street	Invercargill, Biggar Street
Length of Residence	4 days	28 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Methodist Church
Folio	05/3418
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. Sinclair

2 May 1905

George Robert Smith
Margaret Stirling Clement Reid

George Robert Smith
Margaret Stirling Clement Reid
💍 1905/312

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School teacher

31
29

Invercargill, Biggar Street
Invercargill, Farm

3 days
29 years

Residence of Thomas Reid, Biggar Street

05/3563

2 May 1905

Rev. A. Davidson

No	55
Date of Notice	2 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Robert Smith	Margaret Stirling Clement Reid
	💍 1905/312
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School teacher
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Invercargill, Biggar Street	Invercargill, Farm
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Thomas Reid, Biggar Street
Folio	05/3563
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Davidson

3 May 1905

John Martin Cavanagh
Emily Eliza Miller

John Martin Cavanagh
Emily Eliza Miller
💍 1905/1026

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

29
27

Invercargill
South Invercargill, Gorge Road

7 days
3 days

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church

05/3409

3 May 1905

Rev. Father Lynch

No	56
Date of Notice	3 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Martin Cavanagh	Emily Eliza Miller
	💍 1905/1026
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	South Invercargill, Gorge Road
Length of Residence	7 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church
Folio	05/3409
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Lynch

6 May 1905

Robert Short Buchanan
Jennie McCallum

Robert Short Buchanan
Jennie McCallum
💍 1905/1016

Bachelor
Spinster

Flaxmiller
Domestic

20
22

Invercargill, Gorge Road
Invercargill, Leet Street

4 years
22 years

Residence of James McCallum, Gorge Road

05/3400

William Buchanan, father

6 May 1905

Rev. Carter

No	57
Date of Notice	6 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Short Buchanan	Jennie McCallum
	💍 1905/1016
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flaxmiller	Domestic
Age	20	22
Dwelling Place	Invercargill, Gorge Road	Invercargill, Leet Street
Length of Residence	4 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James McCallum, Gorge Road
Folio	05/3400
Consent	William Buchanan, father
Date of Certificate	6 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Carter

8 May 1905

Charles William Lopdell
Elizabeth May Anderson

Charles William Lopdell
Elizabeth May Anderson
💍 1905/1059

Bachelor
Spinster

Constable
Domestic

27
24

Invercargill, Leet Street
Invercargill, Rith Street

4 days
6 days

Residence of J. F. Lopdell, Leet Street

05/3419

8 May 1905

Rev. J. Muirhead

No	58
Date of Notice	8 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles William Lopdell	Elizabeth May Anderson
	💍 1905/1059
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Constable	Domestic
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Invercargill, Leet Street	Invercargill, Rith Street
Length of Residence	4 days	6 days
Marriage Place	Residence of J. F. Lopdell, Leet Street
Folio	05/3419
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Muirhead

8 May 1905

George Robertson Young
Ida Winifred Henderson

George Robertson Young
Ida Winifred Henderson
💍 1905/1045

Bachelor
Spinster

Manager
Domestic

28
26

Invercargill, Clyde Street
Invercargill, Clyde Street

3 days
26 years

Residence of W. A. C. Henderson, Clyde Street

05/3429

8 May 1905

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	59
Date of Notice	8 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Robertson Young	Ida Winifred Henderson
	💍 1905/1045
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Manager	Domestic
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Invercargill, Clyde Street	Invercargill, Clyde Street
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. A. C. Henderson, Clyde Street
Folio	05/3429
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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 1903. 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).