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 611

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 December 1905

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

154

23 December 1905

Charley Fremonger
Euphemia Amy Maud Dawson

Charley Iremonger
Euphemia Amy Maud Dawson
💍 1905/4456

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic

25
24

Crinan Street, Invercargill
Crinan Street, Invercargill

3 days
24 years

Salvation Army Barracks

05/6991

23 December 1905

Rev. E. A. Pylrus

No	154
Date of Notice	23 December 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charley Fremonger	Euphemia Amy Maud Dawson
BDM Match (97%)	Charley Iremonger	Euphemia Amy Maud Dawson
	💍 1905/4456
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Crinan Street, Invercargill	Crinan Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Barracks
Folio	05/6991
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 December 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. A. Pylrus

156

22 December 1905

Harry Swan
Elizabeth Matilda King

Harry Swan
Elizabeth Matilda King
💍 1905/4449

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

21
21

Liddel Street, Invercargill
Gala Street, Invercargill

8 years
1 year

Residence of Rev. R. Raine, Spey Street, Invercargill

05/6985

22 December 1905

Rev. R. Raine

No	156
Date of Notice	22 December 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Swan	Elizabeth Matilda King
	💍 1905/4449
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Liddel Street, Invercargill	Gala Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. R. Raine, Spey Street, Invercargill
Folio	05/6985
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 December 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Raine

158

23 December 1905

Donald Henderson Mailne
Elizabeth Stirling Webb

Donald Henderson Milne
Elizabeth Stirling Webb
💍 1905/4406

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

23
18

Woodlands, Invercargill
Woodlands, Invercargill

23 years
8 years

Residence of Mrs. Catherine Webb, Hay, Woodlands, Invercargill

05/6966

Father

23 December 1905

Rev. E. B. Bissett

No	158
Date of Notice	23 December 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Henderson Mailne	Elizabeth Stirling Webb
BDM Match (98%)	Donald Henderson Milne	Elizabeth Stirling Webb
	💍 1905/4406
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Woodlands, Invercargill	Woodlands, Invercargill
Length of Residence	23 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Catherine Webb, Hay, Woodlands, Invercargill
Folio	05/6966
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	23 December 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. B. Bissett

159

23 December 1905

Phillip Walsh
Annie Evangelist McNelly

Philip Walsh
Annie Evangelist McNelly
💍 1905/4611

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

45
28

Georgetown, Invercargill
East, Invercargill

2 years
2 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

05/7184

23 December 1905

Very Rev. Dean Burke

No	159
Date of Notice	23 December 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Phillip Walsh	Annie Evangelist McNelly
BDM Match (96%)	Philip Walsh	Annie Evangelist McNelly
	💍 1905/4611
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	45	28
Dwelling Place	Georgetown, Invercargill	East, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	05/7184
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 December 1905
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Burke

160

28 December 1905

Duncan Hugh McLean
Jane Margaret Cockburn

Duncan Hugh McLean
Jane Margaret Cockburn
💍 1905/4409

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

28
18

Spar Bush, Invercargill
Spar Bush, Invercargill

5 days
18 years

Residence of Mr. Hugh Beggs, Spar Bush, Invercargill

05/6969

Agnes Beggs, Mother

28 December 1905

Rev. J. Y. Burrows

No	160
Date of Notice	28 December 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan Hugh McLean	Jane Margaret Cockburn
	💍 1905/4409
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Spar Bush, Invercargill	Spar Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 days	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Hugh Beggs, Spar Bush, Invercargill
Folio	05/6969
Consent	Agnes Beggs, Mother
Date of Certificate	28 December 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Y. Burrows

161

28 December 1905

Donald Noble Bissett
Catherine Nora Walsh

Donald Noble Bissett
Katherine Nora Walsh
💍 1905/4405

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic

24
22

Waianiwa, Invercargill
Waianiwa, Invercargill

5 days
5 days

Residence of Mrs. Catherine Bissett, Waianiwa, Invercargill

05/6965

28 December 1905

Rev. A. D. Kirkland

No	161
Date of Notice	28 December 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Noble Bissett	Catherine Nora Walsh
BDM Match (98%)	Donald Noble Bissett	Katherine Nora Walsh
	💍 1905/4405
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Waianiwa, Invercargill	Waianiwa, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Catherine Bissett, Waianiwa, Invercargill
Folio	05/6965
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 December 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. D. Kirkland

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).