Intentions to Marry, 1906 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840432, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1906 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1906a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1906b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1906c).

Page 593

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1906

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

3 January 1906

Edward Crosland
Rose Ema Mortimer

Edward Crosland
Rose Emma Mortimer
💍 1906/2693

Bachelor
Spinster

Bailer
Domestic

22
25

Esk Street, Invercargill
Wallacetown, Invercargill

3 days
25 years

English Church, Jay Street, Invercargill

06/1346

3 January 1906

Venerable Arch. Stocker

No	1
Date of Notice	3 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Crosland	Rose Ema Mortimer
BDM Match (97%)	Edward Crosland	Rose Emma Mortimer
	💍 1906/2693
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bailer	Domestic
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Esk Street, Invercargill	Wallacetown, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Jay Street, Invercargill
Folio	06/1346
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Venerable Arch. Stocker

3 January 1906

Samuel North Bailey
Emily Dinah Price

Samuel Noah Bailey
Emily Dinah Price
💍 1906/2784

Bachelor
Spinster

Jockey
Domestic

26
25

Leet Street, Invercargill
Leet Street, Invercargill

3 days
6 weeks

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

06/1366

3 January 1906

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	2
Date of Notice	3 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel North Bailey	Emily Dinah Price
BDM Match (95%)	Samuel Noah Bailey	Emily Dinah Price
	💍 1906/2784
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jockey	Domestic
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Leet Street, Invercargill	Leet Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	06/1366
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

10 January 1906

John Harvey
Elizabeth Elder McKay

John Harvey
Elizabeth Elder McKay
💍 1906/3517

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

29
30

Wrights Bush, Invercargill
Wrights Bush, Invercargill

8 days
20 years

Residence of Rev. A. Mitchell, Invercargill

06/1356

10 January 1906

Rev. A. Mitchell

No	3
Date of Notice	10 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Harvey	Elizabeth Elder McKay
	💍 1906/3517
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	29	30
Dwelling Place	Wrights Bush, Invercargill	Wrights Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. A. Mitchell, Invercargill
Folio	06/1356
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Mitchell

15 January 1906

Isaac Baty
Elizabeth May Kirwan

Isaac Baty
Elizabeth May Kirwan
💍 1906/2697

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Stenographer

22
22

Spey Street, Invercargill
Leven Street, Invercargill

3 days
22 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

06/1404

15 January 1906

Very Rev. Dean Burke

No	4
Date of Notice	15 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Isaac Baty	Elizabeth May Kirwan
	💍 1906/2697
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Stenographer
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Spey Street, Invercargill	Leven Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	06/1404
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Burke

15 January 1906

William Sutherland
Elizabeth Mary Westbury

William Sutherland
Elizabeth Mary Westbury
💍 1906/2703

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Domestic

21
21

Brunswick, Invercargill
Brunswick, Invercargill

21 years
34 years

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

06/1410

15 January 1906

Rev. R. Raine

No	5
Date of Notice	15 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Sutherland	Elizabeth Mary Westbury
	💍 1906/2703
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Domestic
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Brunswick, Invercargill	Brunswick, Invercargill
Length of Residence	21 years	34 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. R. Raine, Spey Street, Invercargill
Folio	06/1410
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Raine

15 January 1906

John Mitchell
Jane Sinclair

John Mitchell
Jane Sinclair
💍 1906/2685

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Dressmaker

44
35

North, Invercargill
North, Invercargill

3 days
35 years

Residence of J. Sinclair, St. Andrew Street, North, Invercargill

06/1391

15 January 1906

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	6
Date of Notice	15 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mitchell	Jane Sinclair
	💍 1906/2685
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Dressmaker
Age	44	35
Dwelling Place	North, Invercargill	North, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	35 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. Sinclair, St. Andrew Street, North, Invercargill
Folio	06/1391
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

18 January 1906

Thomas Aiken McWilliam
Jane Sutherland

Thomas Aiken McWilliam
Jane Sutherland
💍 1906/2716

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant
School Teacher

43
44

Linton, Southland, Invercargill
Oteramika Road, Invercargill

20 years
3 weeks

Residence of John Sutherland, Oteramika Road, Invercargill

06/1399

18 January 1906

Rev. James Bairden

No	7
Date of Notice	18 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Aiken McWilliam	Jane Sutherland
	💍 1906/2716
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant	School Teacher
Age	43	44
Dwelling Place	Linton, Southland, Invercargill	Oteramika Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	20 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of John Sutherland, Oteramika Road, Invercargill
Folio	06/1399
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Bairden

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 1908. 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).