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 589

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1905 Registrar J. S. 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

18 March 1905

George Gorton Senior
Christina Sheffelbien

George Gorton Junr
Christina Shieffelbein
💍 1905/1041

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

25
21

Wakarewa, Invercargill
Wakarewa, Invercargill

25 years
21 years

Residence of W. Sheffelbien, Wakarewa

05/1425

18 March 1905

Rev. J. Cumming

No	31
Date of Notice	18 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Gorton Senior	Christina Sheffelbien
BDM Match (83%)	George Gorton Junr	Christina Shieffelbein
	💍 1905/1041
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Wakarewa, Invercargill	Wakarewa, Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. Sheffelbien, Wakarewa
Folio	05/1425
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cumming

21 March 1905

Henry John Mussonwhite
Catherine Margaret Gill

Henry John Musselwhite
Catherine Margaret Gill
💍 1905/5086

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer
Domestic

23
21

Tay Street, Invercargill
Woodend, Invercargill

30 days
21 years

Residence of William Gill, Woodend

05/1442

21 March 1905

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	32
Date of Notice	21 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Mussonwhite	Catherine Margaret Gill
BDM Match (95%)	Henry John Musselwhite	Catherine Margaret Gill
	💍 1905/5086
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer	Domestic
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Tay Street, Invercargill	Woodend, Invercargill
Length of Residence	30 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Gill, Woodend
Folio	05/1442
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

21 March 1905

Charles Rowley
Louisa May Pittard

Charles Rowley
Lousia May Pittard
💍 1905/6394

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Domestic

38
27

Dee Street, Invercargill
Dee Street, Invercargill

2 weeks
2 years

Office of the Deputy Registrar, Don Street, Invercargill

05/1613

21 March 1905

Rev. R. Ranie

No	33
Date of Notice	21 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Rowley	Louisa May Pittard
BDM Match (94%)	Charles Rowley	Lousia May Pittard
	💍 1905/6394
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Domestic
Age	38	27
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, Invercargill	Dee Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 weeks	2 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Deputy Registrar, Don Street, Invercargill
Folio	05/1613
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ranie

25 March 1905

Charles Devereaux
Elinor Shaw

Charles Deveraux
Elinor Shaw
💍 1905/5077

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent
Domestic

30
21

Don Street, Invercargill
Don Street, Invercargill

6 days
5 days

Office of the Deputy Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

05/1432

25 March 1905

Deputy Registrar of Marriages

No	34
Date of Notice	25 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Devereaux	Elinor Shaw
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Deveraux	Elinor Shaw
	💍 1905/5077
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent	Domestic
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Don Street, Invercargill	Don Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	6 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Deputy Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	05/1432
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1905
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar of Marriages

25 March 1905

John Harvey Allan
Isabella Mary Jenkins

John Harvey Allan
Isabella Mary Jenkins
💍 1905/5079

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Dressmaker

30
29

Teviot Street, Invercargill
Appleby, Invercargill

27 years
29 years

Residence of G. A. Jenkins, Appleby

05/1435

25 March 1905

Rev. Jas. Baird

No	35
Date of Notice	25 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Harvey Allan	Isabella Mary Jenkins
	💍 1905/5079
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Dressmaker
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Teviot Street, Invercargill	Appleby, Invercargill
Length of Residence	27 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Residence of G. A. Jenkins, Appleby
Folio	05/1435
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Baird

28 March 1905

Francis Earl Deiley
Florence Pomeroy

Francis Carl Deiley
Florence Pomeroy
💍 1905/5098

Bachelor
Spinster

Upholsterer
Domestic Duties

26
20

Jackson Street East, Invercargill
Leet Street, Invercargill

26 years
20 years

Residence of J. K. Pomeroy, Leet Street

05/1455

J. K. Pomeroy, father

28 March 1905

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	36
Date of Notice	28 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Earl Deiley	Florence Pomeroy
BDM Match (97%)	Francis Carl Deiley	Florence Pomeroy
	💍 1905/5098
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Upholsterer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Jackson Street East, Invercargill	Leet Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	26 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. K. Pomeroy, Leet Street
Folio	05/1455
Consent	J. K. Pomeroy, father
Date of Certificate	28 March 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

29 March 1905

George Frederic Perkins
Anna Bertha Diederer

George Frederic Perkins
Anna Bertha Niederer
💍 1905/5078

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic

24
20

Georgetown, Invercargill
Gladstone, Invercargill

7 days
20 years

Office of the Deputy Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

05/1433

A. Diederer, father

29 March 1905

Deputy Registrar of Marriages

No	37
Date of Notice	29 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Frederic Perkins	Anna Bertha Diederer
BDM Match (98%)	George Frederic Perkins	Anna Bertha Niederer
	💍 1905/5078
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Georgetown, Invercargill	Gladstone, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Deputy Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	05/1433
Consent	A. Diederer, father
Date of Certificate	29 March 1905
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar of Marriages

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).