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 595

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

1 February 1906

John Lumsden
Sara Blackham Jopp

John Lumsden Jopp
Sara Blackham
💍 1906/2671

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach, Proprietor
Domestic

35
29

Esk Street, Invercargill
Dee Street, Invercargill

10 years
9 years

Residence of R. Blackham

06/1378

1 February 1906

Venerable Arch. Stocker

No	15
Date of Notice	1 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lumsden	Sara Blackham Jopp
BDM Match (71%)	John Lumsden Jopp	Sara Blackham
	💍 1906/2671
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach, Proprietor	Domestic
Age	35	29
Dwelling Place	Esk Street, Invercargill	Dee Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	10 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Residence of R. Blackham
Folio	06/1378
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Venerable Arch. Stocker

3 February 1906

William Wilbeforce Hatton
Mary McNaught

William Wilberforce Hatton
Mary McNaught
💍 1906/2704

Bachelor
Spinster

Flaxcutter
Domestic

21
19

Eye Street, Invercargill
Richmond Grove, Invercargill

21 years
16 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Don Street, Invercargill

06/1411

Robert John McNaught, Father

3 February 1906

Rev. R. Raine

No	16
Date of Notice	3 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wilbeforce Hatton	Mary McNaught
BDM Match (98%)	William Wilberforce Hatton	Mary McNaught
	💍 1906/2704
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flaxcutter	Domestic
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Eye Street, Invercargill	Richmond Grove, Invercargill
Length of Residence	21 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Don Street, Invercargill
Folio	06/1411
Consent	Robert John McNaught, Father
Date of Certificate	3 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Raine

5 February 1906

David Henderson
Emma Stirling

David Henderson
Emma Stirling
💍 1906/2678

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

29
23

Ramornee, Invercargill
Conon Street, Invercargill

7 years
3 years

Residence of Geo. Lindsay, Kelvin Street, Invercargill

06/1385

5 February 1906

Rev. J. Lindsay

No	17
Date of Notice	5 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Henderson	Emma Stirling
	💍 1906/2678
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Ramornee, Invercargill	Conon Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Geo. Lindsay, Kelvin Street, Invercargill
Folio	06/1385
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Lindsay

6 February 1906

James Aitken
Sarah Kinnaird

James Aitken
Sarah Kinnaird
💍 1906/2669

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Domestic

24
23

Clyde Street, Invercargill
Elles Road North, Invercargill

4 days
19 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

06/1368

6 February 1906

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	18
Date of Notice	6 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Aitken	Sarah Kinnaird
	💍 1906/2669
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Domestic
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Clyde Street, Invercargill	Elles Road North, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	19 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	06/1368
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

7 February 1906

James Tyson Ogilvie
Alice Williamson

James Tyson Ogilvie
Alice Williamson
💍 1906/2700

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Housemaid

24
24

Spey Street, Invercargill
Eye Street, Invercargill

3 days
24 years

Residence of Frederick W. Pope, Eye Street, Invercargill

06/1407

7 February 1906

Rev. J. A. Bybus

No	19
Date of Notice	7 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Tyson Ogilvie	Alice Williamson
	💍 1906/2700
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Housemaid
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Spey Street, Invercargill	Eye Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Frederick W. Pope, Eye Street, Invercargill
Folio	06/1407
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Bybus

8 February 1906

William Shaw
Jessie Elizabeth Bissett

William Shaw
Jessie Elizabeth Bissett
💍 1906/2712

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

27
18

Esk Street, Invercargill
Waianiwa, Invercargill

8 years
8 years

Residence of Mrs. C. Bissett, Waianiwa, Invercargill

06/1395

Catherine Bissett, Mother

8 February 1906

Rev. Wm. W. Brown

No	20
Date of Notice	8 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Shaw	Jessie Elizabeth Bissett
	💍 1906/2712
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Esk Street, Invercargill	Waianiwa, Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. C. Bissett, Waianiwa, Invercargill
Folio	06/1395
Consent	Catherine Bissett, Mother
Date of Certificate	8 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. W. Brown

9 February 1906

George McKenzie
Florence Levina Smith

George McKenzie
Florence Levina Smith
💍 1906/2676

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant
Domestic

24
19

Dee Street, Invercargill
Mary Street East, Invercargill

3 years
2 years

Knox Presbyterian Church, Conon Street, Invercargill

06/1383

Margaret Smith, Mother

9 February 1906

Rev. F. W. Dunlop

No	21
Date of Notice	9 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George McKenzie	Florence Levina Smith
	💍 1906/2676
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant	Domestic
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, Invercargill	Mary Street East, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Knox Presbyterian Church, Conon Street, Invercargill
Folio	06/1383
Consent	Margaret Smith, Mother
Date of Certificate	9 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Dunlop

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).