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 594

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

30 May 1905

James Branks
Diely Kate Dowling

James Branks
Didy Kate Dowling
💍 1905/1054

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

23
23

Invercargill
Longbush

19 years
15 years

English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

05/73437

30 May 1905

Rev. Arch. Stocker

No	67
Date of Notice	30 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Branks	Diely Kate Dowling
BDM Match (94%)	James Branks	Didy Kate Dowling
	💍 1905/1054
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Longbush
Length of Residence	19 years	15 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	05/73437
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. Stocker

2 June 1905

John Alexander Scobie
Mary Ann Simpson (widow of J. H. Owen)

John Alexander Scobie
Mary Ann Simpson
💍 1905/1043

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Domestic

38
36

Leet Street, Invercargill
Leet Street, Invercargill

3 years
5 years

Residence of Mr. T. H. Ewen, Avenal

05/73427

2 June 1905

Rev. R. Raine

No	68
Date of Notice	2 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alexander Scobie	Mary Ann Simpson (widow of J. H. Owen)
BDM Match (71%)	John Alexander Scobie	Mary Ann Simpson
	💍 1905/1043
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	38	36
Dwelling Place	Leet Street, Invercargill	Leet Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. T. H. Ewen, Avenal
Folio	05/73427
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Raine

2 June 1905

James Henry Crisp
Lilian Mary Griffiths

James Henry Crisp
Lilian Mary Griffiths
💍 1905/1038

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Domestic

26
22

Elles Road, South Invercargill
Princes Street, South Invercargill

26 years
8 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, South Invercargill

05/73422

2 June 1905

Rev. I. A. Pybus

No	69
Date of Notice	2 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Crisp	Lilian Mary Griffiths
	💍 1905/1038
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Domestic
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Elles Road, South Invercargill	Princes Street, South Invercargill
Length of Residence	26 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, South Invercargill
Folio	05/73422
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. A. Pybus

5 June 1905

Joseph Snowden
Harriet Elizabeth Hill

Joseph Snowden
Harriet Elizabeth Hill
💍 1905/1708

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Domestic

33
32

Forth Street, Invercargill
Forth Street, Invercargill

3 days
12 months

English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

05/73438

5 June 1905

Rev. Arch. Stocker

No	70
Date of Notice	5 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Snowden	Harriet Elizabeth Hill
	💍 1905/1708
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Domestic
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Forth Street, Invercargill	Forth Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	12 months
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	05/73438
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. Stocker

6 June 1905

Archibald Millar McLean
Bertha Lilley

Archibald Millar McLean
Bertha Lilley
💍 1905/1719

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

24
23

Eye Street, Invercargill
Eye Street, Invercargill

17 years
23 years

Residence of John Lilley, Eye Street, Invercargill

05/73439

6 June 1905

Rev. Arch. Stocker

No	71
Date of Notice	6 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Millar McLean	Bertha Lilley
	💍 1905/1719
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Eye Street, Invercargill	Eye Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	17 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Lilley, Eye Street, Invercargill
Folio	05/73439
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arch. Stocker

7 June 1905

Alfred Morrison
Rebecca Bates

Alfred Morrison
Rebecca Bates
💍 1905/1014

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

27
25

North End, Invercargill
Eye Street, Invercargill

15 years
6 years

Office of the Deputy Registrar, Invercargill

05/73398

7 June 1905

Deputy Registrar

No	72
Date of Notice	7 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Morrison	Rebecca Bates
	💍 1905/1014
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	North End, Invercargill	Eye Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	15 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Deputy Registrar, Invercargill
Folio	05/73398
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

9 June 1905

William Thwaites
Alice Gertrude McDermott

William Thwaites
Alice Gertrude McDermott
💍 1905/1039

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

22
17

Princes Street, South Invercargill
Princes Street, South Invercargill

3 weeks
3 weeks

Residence of G. E. McDermott, Princes Street, South Invercargill

05/3423

George Edward McDermott, father

9 June 1905

Rev. A. Pybus

No	73
Date of Notice	9 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thwaites	Alice Gertrude McDermott
	💍 1905/1039
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Princes Street, South Invercargill	Princes Street, South Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of G. E. McDermott, Princes Street, South Invercargill
Folio	05/3423
Consent	George Edward McDermott, father
Date of Certificate	9 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Pybus

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).