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 599

District of INVERCARGILL Quarter ending 30 September 1905 Registrar John Ernest 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

101

29 August 1905

John McDonald
Lily Christina Grace Campbell

John McDonald
Lily Christina Grace Campbell
💍 1905/2558

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

31
33

Esk St., Invercargill
Naimatuku Bush

3 days
33 years

First Church, Tay St.

05/4997

29 August 1905

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	101
Date of Notice	29 August 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McDonald	Lily Christina Grace Campbell
	💍 1905/2558
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	31	33
Dwelling Place	Esk St., Invercargill	Naimatuku Bush
Length of Residence	3 days	33 years
Marriage Place	First Church, Tay St.
Folio	05/4997
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

102

4 September 1905

Harry Shieffelbein
Annie Batt

Harry Shieffelbein
Annie Batt
💍 1905/2578

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

23
18

Naimatuku Bush, Invercargill
Invercargill, Ythan St.

6 months
17 years

Office of the Deputy Registrar of Marriages

05/4989

Sarah Batt, mother

4 September 1905

Deputy Registrar

No	102
Date of Notice	4 September 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Shieffelbein	Annie Batt
	💍 1905/2578
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Naimatuku Bush, Invercargill	Invercargill, Ythan St.
Length of Residence	6 months	17 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Deputy Registrar of Marriages
Folio	05/4989
Consent	Sarah Batt, mother
Date of Certificate	4 September 1905
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

103

5 September 1905

Arthur James Hillmot
Louisa Elizabeth Hoadley

Arthur James Willmot
Louisa Elizabeth Hadley
💍 1905/2546

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

21
16

Invercargill, Ythan St.
Invercargill, Ineed St.

2 years
1 year

Residence of T. Tay, Ythan St.

05/5008

Frederick Hoadley, father

5 September 1905

Rev. R. Raine

No	103
Date of Notice	5 September 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur James Hillmot	Louisa Elizabeth Hoadley
BDM Match (95%)	Arthur James Willmot	Louisa Elizabeth Hadley
	💍 1905/2546
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	21	16
Dwelling Place	Invercargill, Ythan St.	Invercargill, Ineed St.
Length of Residence	2 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of T. Tay, Ythan St.
Folio	05/5008
Consent	Frederick Hoadley, father
Date of Certificate	5 September 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Raine

104

11 September 1905

Jabez Francis Hay
Edith Thomas

Jabez Francis Hay
Edith Thomas
💍 1905/2555

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic

23
24

Invercargill, 16 Quarrie St.
South Invercargill, Forest Hill

3 days
24 years

Residence of Mathias Thomas, 16 Quarrie St.

05/5016

11 September 1905

Rev. J. A. Pybas

No	104
Date of Notice	11 September 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jabez Francis Hay	Edith Thomas
	💍 1905/2555
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Invercargill, 16 Quarrie St.	South Invercargill, Forest Hill
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mathias Thomas, 16 Quarrie St.
Folio	05/5016
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Pybas

105

16 September 1905

Duncan Cameron McKerchar
Emma Lydia Lindsay

Duncan Cameron McKerchar
Emma Lydia Lindsay
💍 1905/2545

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

35
23

Invercargill, Tay St.
Invercargill, 16 Master St.

12 months
23 years

St. Paul's Methodist Church, Leet St.

05/5007

16 September 1905

Rev. A. Mitchell

No	105
Date of Notice	16 September 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan Cameron McKerchar	Emma Lydia Lindsay
	💍 1905/2545
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	35	23
Dwelling Place	Invercargill, Tay St.	Invercargill, 16 Master St.
Length of Residence	12 months	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Methodist Church, Leet St.
Folio	05/5007
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 September 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Mitchell

106

20 September 1905

Robert Andrew Parlane
Annie Hilson Nisbet

Robert Andrew Parlane
Annie Wilson Nisbet
💍 1905/2579

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Domestic

25
25

East Invercargill, 16 Master St.
East Invercargill, Yarrow St.

3 days
5 years

Office of the Deputy Registrar of Marriages

05/4990

20 September 1905

Deputy Registrar

No	106
Date of Notice	20 September 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Andrew Parlane	Annie Hilson Nisbet
BDM Match (97%)	Robert Andrew Parlane	Annie Wilson Nisbet
	💍 1905/2579
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Domestic
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	East Invercargill, 16 Master St.	East Invercargill, Yarrow St.
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Deputy Registrar of Marriages
Folio	05/4990
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 September 1905
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

107

20 September 1905

Walter Henry Ladbrook
Alice Charlotte Corrie

Walter Henry Ladbrook
Alice Charlotte Corrie
💍 1905/2580

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Servant

23
19

Invercargill, Yarrow St.
Invercargill

3 days
2 years

Office of the Deputy Registrar of Marriages

05/4991

John Corrie, father

20 September 1905

Deputy Registrar

No	107
Date of Notice	20 September 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Henry Ladbrook	Alice Charlotte Corrie
	💍 1905/2580
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Servant
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Invercargill, Yarrow St.	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Deputy Registrar of Marriages
Folio	05/4991
Consent	John Corrie, father
Date of Certificate	20 September 1905
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

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).