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 594

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 January 1906

Windermere Burdon
Beatrice Maud Pert

Windermere Burdon
Beatrice Maud Pert
💍 1906/2670

Bachelor
Spinster

Thrashing Mill proprietor
Domestic

25
22

Ryal Bush
Ryal Bush

3 years
22 years

English Church, Jay Street

06/1377

19 January 1906

Rev. J. Perkins

No	8
Date of Notice	19 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Windermere Burdon	Beatrice Maud Pert
	💍 1906/2670
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Thrashing Mill proprietor	Domestic
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Ryal Bush	Ryal Bush
Length of Residence	3 years	22 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Jay Street
Folio	06/1377
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Perkins

20 January 1906

James Manson
Henrietta Margaret Gunn

James Manson
Henrietta Margaret Gunn
💍 1906/2686

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger
Clerk

30
24

Yarrow Street
Yarrow Street

30 years
13 years

Yarrow Street

06/1392

20 January 1906

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	9
Date of Notice	20 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Manson	Henrietta Margaret Gunn
	💍 1906/2686
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger	Clerk
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Yarrow Street	Yarrow Street
Length of Residence	30 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Yarrow Street
Folio	06/1392
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

22 January 1906

Henry Robert Cottrell
Christina Young

Henry Robert Cottrell
Christina Young
💍 1906/2717

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

20
19

Yarrow St.
Yarrow St.

20 years
11 months

Kelvin Street

06/1400

Harry Lucas Cottrell (father), William Young (father)

22 January 1906

Rev. G. Lindsay

No	10
Date of Notice	22 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Robert Cottrell	Christina Young
	💍 1906/2717
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Yarrow St.	Yarrow St.
Length of Residence	20 years	11 months
Marriage Place	Kelvin Street
Folio	06/1400
Consent	Harry Lucas Cottrell (father), William Young (father)
Date of Certificate	22 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Lindsay

22 January 1906

William Harley Boyes
Beatrice Elizabeth Mehaffey

William Harley Boyes
Beatrice Elizabeth McHaffey
💍 1906/2677

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman
Domestic

24
24

Liddel Street
Woodlands

18 months
1 year

Woodlands

06/1384

John Mehaffey

22 January 1906

Rev. F. W. Dunlop

No	11
Date of Notice	22 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Harley Boyes	Beatrice Elizabeth Mehaffey
BDM Match (96%)	William Harley Boyes	Beatrice Elizabeth McHaffey
	💍 1906/2677
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman	Domestic
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Liddel Street	Woodlands
Length of Residence	18 months	1 year
Marriage Place	Woodlands
Folio	06/1384
Consent	John Mehaffey
Date of Certificate	22 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Dunlop

27 January 1906

Thomas Morell Macdonald
Emma Louisa Georgina McChesney

Thomas Movell Macdonald
Emma Louisa Georgina McChesney
💍 1906/2715

Widower
Spinster

Barrister and Solicitor

65
26

Enwood, South
Princes Street, South

40 years
8 years

Princes Street, South

06/1398

George Mc Chesney

27 January 1906

Rev. D. Dutton

No	12
Date of Notice	27 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Morell Macdonald	Emma Louisa Georgina McChesney
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Movell Macdonald	Emma Louisa Georgina McChesney
	💍 1906/2715
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Barrister and Solicitor
Age	65	26
Dwelling Place	Enwood, South	Princes Street, South
Length of Residence	40 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Princes Street, South
Folio	06/1398
Consent	George Mc Chesney
Date of Certificate	27 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Dutton

30 January 1906

Edward Arthur Phillips
Jean Russell Aitken

Edward Arthur Phillips
Jean Russell Aitken
💍 1906/2785

Bachelor
Spinster

Photographer
Dressmaker

24
20

Tay Street
Tay Street

2 months
1 month

Office of the Registrar of Marriages

06/1367

John Aitken (father)

30 January 1906

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	13
Date of Notice	30 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Arthur Phillips	Jean Russell Aitken
	💍 1906/2785
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Photographer	Dressmaker
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Tay Street	Tay Street
Length of Residence	2 months	1 month
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	06/1367
Consent	John Aitken (father)
Date of Certificate	30 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

31 January 1906

Charles James Fox
Janet Donaldson

Charles James Fox
Janet Donaldson
💍 1906/2691

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

26
21

South
South

4 days
4 days

English Church, Clifton

06/1374

31 January 1906

Rev. W. Sirnburn

No	14
Date of Notice	31 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles James Fox	Janet Donaldson
	💍 1906/2691
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	South	South
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	English Church, Clifton
Folio	06/1374
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Sirnburn

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).