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 599

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

19 March 1906

Michael Holland
Jane Lawton

Michael Holland
Jane Lawton
💍 1906/3506

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

42
24

Roslyn Bush, Southland
Roslyn Bush, Southland

9 years
2 years

Roman Catholic Church, Lyne Street, Invercargill

06/1357

19 March 1906

Very Rev. Dean Burke

No	42
Date of Notice	19 March 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Holland	Jane Lawton
	💍 1906/3506
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	42	24
Dwelling Place	Roslyn Bush, Southland	Roslyn Bush, Southland
Length of Residence	9 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Lyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	06/1357
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1906
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Burke

21 March 1906

Shaw Brosland
Ethel Maud Barry Mortimer

Thaw Crosland
Ethel Maud Carry Mortimer
💍 1906/2672

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic

24
21

Dee Street, Invercargill
Wallacetown, Southland

3 days
7 years

English Church, Jay Street, Invercargill

06/1399

21 March 1906

Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

No	43
Date of Notice	21 March 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Shaw Brosland	Ethel Maud Barry Mortimer
BDM Match (90%)	Thaw Crosland	Ethel Maud Carry Mortimer
	💍 1906/2672
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, Invercargill	Wallacetown, Southland
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Jay Street, Invercargill
Folio	06/1399
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1906
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

22 March 1906

Matthew Langlands Murray
Mary Elizabeth Blakie MN Coombe

Matthew Langlands Murray
Mary Elizabeth Blakie
💍 1906/2718

Bachelor
Widow

Contractor
Domestic

44
35

Rydal Bush, Southland
Ryal Bush, Southland

10 years
20 years

Presbyterian Church, Jay Street, Invercargill

06/1401

22 March 1906

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	44
Date of Notice	22 March 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Langlands Murray	Mary Elizabeth Blakie MN Coombe
BDM Match (84%)	Matthew Langlands Murray	Mary Elizabeth Blakie
	💍 1906/2718
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Contractor	Domestic
Age	44	35
Dwelling Place	Rydal Bush, Southland	Ryal Bush, Southland
Length of Residence	10 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Jay Street, Invercargill
Folio	06/1401
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

24 March 1906

James Thomas Hall
Margaret Jane Hall

James Thomas
Margaret Jane Hall
💍 1906/3519

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawyer
Domestic

22
21

Woodend, Invercargill
Awarua Plains, Invercargill

22 years
16 years

Residence of Rev. A. Mitchell, North End, Invercargill

06/3568

24 March 1906

Rev. A. Mitchell

No	45
Date of Notice	24 March 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Thomas Hall	Margaret Jane Hall
BDM Match (85%)	James Thomas	Margaret Jane Hall
	💍 1906/3519
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawyer	Domestic
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Woodend, Invercargill	Awarua Plains, Invercargill
Length of Residence	22 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. A. Mitchell, North End, Invercargill
Folio	06/3568
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Mitchell

28 March 1906

John George Valentine
Mary Ellen Stirling

John George Valentine
Mary Ellen Stirling
💍 1906/2705

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Tailoress

25
21

Tweed Street, Invercargill
Conon Street, Invercargill

3 days
9 years

Presbyterian Church, Jay Street, Invercargill

06/1394

28 March 1906

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	46
Date of Notice	28 March 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John George Valentine	Mary Ellen Stirling
	💍 1906/2705
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Tailoress
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Tweed Street, Invercargill	Conon Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	9 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Jay Street, Invercargill
Folio	06/1394
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

29 March 1906

Charles Lewis Hearne Gunn
Isabella Fraser

Charles Lewis Hearne Gunn
Isabella Fraser
💍 1906/3580

James Brown
Isabella Fraser
💍 1907/1509

Bachelor
Spinster

Wool Expert
Dressmaker

29
24

Spey Street, Invercargill
Spey Street, Invercargill

5 years
6 years

Residence of Mrs W. Fraser, 132 Spey Street, Invercargill

06/3534

29 March 1906

Rev. G. Lindsay

No	47
Date of Notice	29 March 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Lewis Hearne Gunn	Isabella Fraser
	💍 1906/3580
BDM Match (62%)	James Brown	Isabella Fraser
	💍 1907/1509
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wool Expert	Dressmaker
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Spey Street, Invercargill	Spey Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs W. Fraser, 132 Spey Street, Invercargill
Folio	06/3534
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 March 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Lindsay

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).