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 596

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 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

1 July 1905

Allan Stead
Rachel Miller Morison Hyse

Allan Stead
Rachel Miller Morrison Wyse
💍 1905/2563

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Domestic

22
23

Tweed St. Invercargill
Leet St. Invercargill

22 years
20 years

St Pauls Presbyterian Church

05/5002

1 July 1905

Rev. Geo Lindsay

No	80
Date of Notice	1 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan Stead	Rachel Miller Morison Hyse
BDM Match (96%)	Allan Stead	Rachel Miller Morrison Wyse
	💍 1905/2563
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Tweed St. Invercargill	Leet St. Invercargill
Length of Residence	22 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St Pauls Presbyterian Church
Folio	05/5002
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo Lindsay

7 July 1905

Alexander Churchill
Hannah Margaret Reid

Alexander Churchill
Hannah Margaret Reid
💍 1905/2548

Bachelor
Spinster

Gold-miner
Domestic

33
24

Invercargill, Dee St.
Invercargill, Dee St.

3 days
3 days

Residence of Thomas Rodgers, Tisbury

05/5010

7 July 1905

Rev. J. A. Pybus

No	81
Date of Notice	7 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Churchill	Hannah Margaret Reid
	💍 1905/2548
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gold-miner	Domestic
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Invercargill, Dee St.	Invercargill, Dee St.
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Thomas Rodgers, Tisbury
Folio	05/5010
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Pybus

10 July 1905

Coleman Hanning
Delia Burke

Coleman Hanning
Delia Burke
💍 1905/2703

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

35
25

Invercargill, Grove Bush
Invercargill, Tyne St.

35 years
25 years

Roman Catholic Church

05/5766

10 July 1905

Very Rev. Scan Burke

No	82
Date of Notice	10 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Coleman Hanning	Delia Burke
	💍 1905/2703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	35	25
Dwelling Place	Invercargill, Grove Bush	Invercargill, Tyne St.
Length of Residence	35 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	05/5766
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Scan Burke

11 July 1905

John Joseph Delaney
Maggie Grant

John Joseph Delaney
Maggie Grant
💍 1905/2541

Bachelor
Spinster

Gold-miner
Domestic

27
25

Invercargill, Dee St.
Invercargill, Spey St.

3 days
3 days

First Presbyterian Church, Tay St.

05/4994

11 July 1905

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	83
Date of Notice	11 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joseph Delaney	Maggie Grant
	💍 1905/2541
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gold-miner	Domestic
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Invercargill, Dee St.	Invercargill, Spey St.
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	First Presbyterian Church, Tay St.
Folio	05/4994
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

14 July 1905

Frederick William Gresham
Mary Morison McGruer

Frederick William Gresham
Mary Morrison McGruer
💍 1905/2564

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist
Domestic duties

35
22

Invercargill, Elles Road
East Invercargill, Mary St.

11 years
16 years

Residence of J. D. McGruer, Elles Road

05/5003

14 July 1905

Rev. Geo Lindsay

No	84
Date of Notice	14 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Gresham	Mary Morison McGruer
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick William Gresham	Mary Morrison McGruer
	💍 1905/2564
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist	Domestic duties
Age	35	22
Dwelling Place	Invercargill, Elles Road	East Invercargill, Mary St.
Length of Residence	11 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. D. McGruer, Elles Road
Folio	05/5003
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo Lindsay

15 July 1905

Edwin James Barlow
Isabel Eamey Stratton

Edwin James Carlow
Mabel Eamey Stratton
💍 1905/2575

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

20
20

East Invercargill, Mary St.
East Invercargill, Dalrymple Road

3 days
3 days

Office of the Deputy Registrar of Marriages

05/4987

Rebecca, Mother

15 July 1905

Deputy Registrar

No	85
Date of Notice	15 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin James Barlow	Isabel Eamey Stratton
BDM Match (92%)	Edwin James Carlow	Mabel Eamey Stratton
	💍 1905/2575
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	20	20
Dwelling Place	East Invercargill, Mary St.	East Invercargill, Dalrymple Road
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Deputy Registrar of Marriages
Folio	05/4987
Consent	Rebecca, Mother
Date of Certificate	15 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

15 July 1905

Henry Gallus
Isabella Ellen Mangan

Henry Gallus
Isabella Ellen Mangan
💍 1905/2552

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

25
25

South Invercargill, Dalrymple Road
South Invercargill, Dalrymple Road

8 days
12 years

Residence of J. S. Mangan, Dalrymple Road

05/4995

15 July 1905

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	86
Date of Notice	15 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Gallus	Isabella Ellen Mangan
	💍 1905/2552
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	South Invercargill, Dalrymple Road	South Invercargill, Dalrymple Road
Length of Residence	8 days	12 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. S. Mangan, Dalrymple Road
Folio	05/4995
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. 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 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).