Intentions to Marry, 1907 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840435, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1907 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1907a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1907b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1907c).

Page 597

District of INVERCARGILL Quarter ending 31 March 1907 Registrar J. G. Petrie

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 1907

John William Taylor Chapman
Annie Jane Bryant
Maiden Name Sheddon

John William Taylor Chapman
Annie June Bryant
💍 1907/1609

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Housekeeper

35
29

Morton Mains, INVERCARGILL
Morton Mains, INVERCARGILL

2 years
18 months

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

07/1705

3 January 1907

Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

No	1
Date of Notice	3 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Taylor Chapman	Annie Jane Bryant Maiden Name Sheddon
BDM Match (97%)	John William Taylor Chapman	Annie June Bryant
	💍 1907/1609
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	35	29
Dwelling Place	Morton Mains, INVERCARGILL	Morton Mains, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	2 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/1705
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

3 January 1907

Joseph James Gough
Eva Mary Poole

Joseph James Gough
Eva Mary Poole
💍 1907/1591

Bachelor
Spinster

Architect
Domestic

27
25

Conon Street, INVERCARGILL
Tiviot Street, INVERCARGILL

20 years
12 years

English Church, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL

07/1680

3 January 1907

Rev. W. Swinburn

No	2
Date of Notice	3 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph James Gough	Eva Mary Poole
	💍 1907/1591
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Architect	Domestic
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Conon Street, INVERCARGILL	Tiviot Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	20 years	12 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/1680
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Swinburn

9 January 1907

Richard Burton
Jane Elliott
Maiden Name Rodger

Richard Bunton
Jane Elliott
💍 1907/5748

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic

32
34

Waianiwa, INVERCARGILL
Waianiwa, INVERCARGILL

7 years
2 years

Residence of John Russell, Makarewa, INVERCARGILL

07/1693

9 January 1907

Rev. J. Cumming

No	3
Date of Notice	9 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Burton	Jane Elliott Maiden Name Rodger
BDM Match (96%)	Richard Bunton	Jane Elliott
	💍 1907/5748
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	32	34
Dwelling Place	Waianiwa, INVERCARGILL	Waianiwa, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	7 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Russell, Makarewa, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/1693
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cumming

10 January 1907

William Moseley Andrews
Elizabeth Gilbertson

William Mosley Andrews
Elizabeth Gilbertson
💍 1907/1587

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic

31
30

Avenal, INVERCARGILL
East Invercargill

5 years
20 years

Residence of Rev. James Baird, Spey Street, INVERCARGILL

07/1700

10 January 1907

Rev. James Baird

No	4
Date of Notice	10 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Moseley Andrews	Elizabeth Gilbertson
BDM Match (98%)	William Mosley Andrews	Elizabeth Gilbertson
	💍 1907/1587
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Avenal, INVERCARGILL	East Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. James Baird, Spey Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/1700
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Baird

11 January 1907

Bertie Augustus Ekensteen
Margretta Dorrance Sinclair

Bertie Augustus Ethensteen
Margretta Dorrane Sinclair
💍 1907/1584

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman

31
24

Don Street, INVERCARGILL
McMaster Street, East INVERCARGILL

31 years
24 years

Residence of John Sinclair, McMaster Street, East INVERCARGILL

07/1698

11 January 1907

Rev. James Baird

No	5
Date of Notice	11 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bertie Augustus Ekensteen	Margretta Dorrance Sinclair
BDM Match (94%)	Bertie Augustus Ethensteen	Margretta Dorrane Sinclair
	💍 1907/1584
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman
Age	31	24
Dwelling Place	Don Street, INVERCARGILL	McMaster Street, East INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	31 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Sinclair, McMaster Street, East INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/1698
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Baird

12 January 1907

George William Woods
Muriel Burns

George William Woods
Mirrien Burns
💍 1907/1454

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Agent
Accountant

26
27

Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Union Street, Dunedin

7 years
1 week

Roman Catholic Church, Rathay Street, Dunedin

07/1563

12 January 1907

Rev. Father Coffey

No	6
Date of Notice	12 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Woods	Muriel Burns
BDM Match (88%)	George William Woods	Mirrien Burns
	💍 1907/1454
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Agent	Accountant
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, INVERCARGILL	Union Street, Dunedin
Length of Residence	7 years	1 week
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Rathay Street, Dunedin
Folio	07/1563
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Coffey

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).