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 601

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

4 March 1907

James Holmes
Ada Elizabeth Cora Thomas

James Holmes
Ada Elizabeth Cora Thomas
💍 1907/8198

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable
Domestic

31
30

Esk Street Invercargill
Leven Street Invercargill

4 years
7 years

English Church Tay Street Invercargill

07/1682

4 March 1907

Ven Archdeacon Stocker

No	25
Date of Notice	4 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Holmes	Ada Elizabeth Cora Thomas
	💍 1907/8198
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable	Domestic
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Esk Street Invercargill	Leven Street Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	7 years
Marriage Place	English Church Tay Street Invercargill
Folio	07/1682
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Ven Archdeacon Stocker

6 March 1907

Robert McNaughton
Mary Ryan

Robert McNaughton
Mary Ryan
💍 1907/1857

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

29
23

Wrights Bush Invercargill
Wrights Bush Invercargill

29 years
23 years

Roman Catholic Church Waikiwi Invercargill

07/1975

6 March 1907

Rev. Father P. Murphy

No	26
Date of Notice	6 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert McNaughton	Mary Ryan
	💍 1907/1857
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Wrights Bush Invercargill	Wrights Bush Invercargill
Length of Residence	29 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Waikiwi Invercargill
Folio	07/1975
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father P. Murphy

6 March 1907

Arthur John McIntyre
Ethel Ekensteen Northington

Arthur John McIntyre
Ethel Ekenstein Worthington
💍 1907/1693

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

25
24

Enwood Invercargill
Bowmont Street Invercargill

25 years
24 years

Roman Catholic Church Tyne Street Invercargill

07/1788

6 March 1907

Rev. James O'Malley

No	27
Date of Notice	6 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John McIntyre	Ethel Ekensteen Northington
BDM Match (96%)	Arthur John McIntyre	Ethel Ekenstein Worthington
	💍 1907/1693
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Enwood Invercargill	Bowmont Street Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Tyne Street Invercargill
Folio	07/1788
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. James O'Malley

11 March 1907

James Buchanan
Barbara McCallum

James Buchanan
Barbara McCallum
💍 1907/1577

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Domestic

27
22

Gorge Road Invercargill
Gorge Road Invercargill

4 years
22 years

Residence of James McCallum Gorge Road Invercargill

07/1690

11 March 1907

Rev. E. J. Carter

No	28
Date of Notice	11 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Buchanan	Barbara McCallum
	💍 1907/1577
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Domestic
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Gorge Road Invercargill	Gorge Road Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James McCallum Gorge Road Invercargill
Folio	07/1690
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. J. Carter

11 March 1907

Charles Thomas John Woodfield
Olive Alice Watson

Charles Thomas John Woodfield
Olive Alice Watson
💍 1907/1583

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Clerk

23
23

Don Street Invercargill
East Invercargill

5 years
23 years

Residence of Abraham Watson Barwheys East Invercargill

07/1697

11 March 1907

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	29
Date of Notice	11 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Thomas John Woodfield	Olive Alice Watson
	💍 1907/1583
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Clerk
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Don Street Invercargill	East Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Abraham Watson Barwheys East Invercargill
Folio	07/1697
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

12 March 1907

Hugh Wilson
Mary Muir Strang

Hugh Wilson
Mary Muir Strang
💍 1907/1578

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

21
21

Fern Bush Invercargill
Long Bush Invercargill

3 months
4 years

Residence of Thomas Muir Strang Long Bush Invercargill

07/1691

12 March 1907

Rev. E. Bissett

No	30
Date of Notice	12 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Wilson	Mary Muir Strang
	💍 1907/1578
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Fern Bush Invercargill	Long Bush Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Thomas Muir Strang Long Bush Invercargill
Folio	07/1691
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Bissett

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).