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 595

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 1905 Registrar J. 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

12 June 1905

George Henry Bennett
Christina Morton

George Henry Bennett
Christina Morton
💍 1905/1018

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

36
32

Forest Hill
Teviot Street, Invercargill

14 days

Residence of Forest Hill, Mrs Morton, Teviot Street

05/73402

12 June 1905

Rev. James Baird

No	74
Date of Notice	12 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Bennett	Christina Morton
	💍 1905/1018
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	36	32
Dwelling Place	Forest Hill	Teviot Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence		14 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Forest Hill, Mrs Morton, Teviot Street
Folio	05/73402
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Baird

13 June 1905

William Smithson
Hannah Imrie

William Smithson
Hannah Imrie
💍 1905/1015

Widower
Widow

Butcher
Housekeeper

57
52

Doon Street, Invercargill
Doon Street, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Office of the Deputy Registrar, Barracks

05/73399

13 June 1905

Deputy Registrar

No	75
Date of Notice	13 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Smithson	Hannah Imrie
	💍 1905/1015
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Butcher	Housekeeper
Age	57	52
Dwelling Place	Doon Street, Invercargill	Doon Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Deputy Registrar, Barracks
Folio	05/73399
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

14 June 1905

Albert Henry Stott
Annie Robina Heage

Albert Henry Stott
Annie Robina Wedge
💍 1905/1057

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

22
17

Robinson Street, Invercargill
Ettrick Street, East Invercargill

Residence of Mrs. Lauder, Ettrick Street

05/73417

Elizabeth Lauder, mother

14 June 1905

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	76
Date of Notice	14 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Henry Stott	Annie Robina Heage
BDM Match (94%)	Albert Henry Stott	Annie Robina Wedge
	💍 1905/1057
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Robinson Street, Invercargill	Ettrick Street, East Invercargill
Length of Residence
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Lauder, Ettrick Street
Folio	05/73417
Consent	Elizabeth Lauder, mother
Date of Certificate	14 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

27 June 1905

James George Hailefield
Mary Lawrie

James George Wakefield
Mary Lawrie
💍 1905/323

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

32
21

Grove Bush, Invercargill
Mary Street, Invercargill

7 days
2 months

Residence of Mrs. E. Lawrie, Grove Bush

05/73562

27 June 1905

Rev. J. H. Simpson

No	77
Date of Notice	27 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James George Hailefield	Mary Lawrie
BDM Match (94%)	James George Wakefield	Mary Lawrie
	💍 1905/323
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Grove Bush, Invercargill	Mary Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 days	2 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. E. Lawrie, Grove Bush
Folio	05/73562
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Simpson

27 June 1905

Alexander Branks
Caroline Elizabeth Church

Alexander Branks
Caroline Elizabeth Church
💍 1905/2561

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic

25
20

Esk Street, East Invercargill
Leet Street, Invercargill

3 years
5 years

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church

05/5000

27 June 1905

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	78
Date of Notice	27 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Branks	Caroline Elizabeth Church
	💍 1905/2561
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Esk Street, East Invercargill	Leet Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Presbyterian Church
Folio	05/5000
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

28 June 1905

Henry Sherratt Woodnorth
Ann Gordon

Henry Sherratt Woodnorth
Ann Gordon
💍 1905/1044

Bachelor
Spinster

Tile-maker
Domestic

41
32

Leet Street, Invercargill
Don Street, Invercargill

2 weeks
2 weeks

Primitive Methodist Church, Don Street

05/3428

28 June 1905

Rev. R. Raine

No	79
Date of Notice	28 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Sherratt Woodnorth	Ann Gordon
	💍 1905/1044
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tile-maker	Domestic
Age	41	32
Dwelling Place	Leet Street, Invercargill	Don Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Don Street
Folio	05/3428
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Raine

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).