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 622

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 1907

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

127

21 August 1907

Michael Francis Mulhare
Louisa Maria Blackmun

Michael Francis Mulhare
Louisa Maria Blackman
💍 1907/6028

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

29
21

Elles Road, South Invercargill
Elles Road, South Invercargill

6 years
2 years

Residence of Hugh E. McDumott, Elles Road, South Invercargill

07/6085

21 August 1907

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	127
Date of Notice	21 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Francis Mulhare	Louisa Maria Blackmun
BDM Match (98%)	Michael Francis Mulhare	Louisa Maria Blackman
	💍 1907/6028
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Elles Road, South Invercargill	Elles Road, South Invercargill
Length of Residence	6 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Hugh E. McDumott, Elles Road, South Invercargill
Folio	07/6085
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

128

23 August 1907

Frederick George Dyer
Minnie Horton

Frederick George Dyer
Minnie Horton
💍 1907/3940

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

26
25

Gladstone, Invercargill
Grove Bush, Invercargill

26 years
6 weeks

Residence of Mrs. Henrietta Horton, Grove Bush, Invercargill

07/5895

23 August 1907

Rev. E. Bissett

No	128
Date of Notice	23 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick George Dyer	Minnie Horton
	💍 1907/3940
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Gladstone, Invercargill	Grove Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	26 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Henrietta Horton, Grove Bush, Invercargill
Folio	07/5895
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Bissett

129

26 August 1907

John Joseph Mitchell
Elizabeth Findlay

John Joseph Mitchell
Elizabeth Findlay
💍 1907/6031

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

34
32

Elles Road, South Invercargill
Mary Street, East Invercargill

5 years
15 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

07/6087

26 August 1907

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	129
Date of Notice	26 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joseph Mitchell	Elizabeth Findlay
	💍 1907/6031
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	34	32
Dwelling Place	Elles Road, South Invercargill	Mary Street, East Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	07/6087
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

130

27 August 1907

John Ferguson
Elizabeth Fanny Donnelly

John Ferguson
Elizabeth Fanny Donnelly
💍 1907/6029

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic

26
26

Dee Street, Invercargill
Dee Street, Invercargill

3 days
4 days

Residence of Rev. R. Ferguson, Tay Street, Invercargill

07/6086

27 August 1907

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	130
Date of Notice	27 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ferguson	Elizabeth Fanny Donnelly
	💍 1907/6029
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, Invercargill	Dee Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. R. Ferguson, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	07/6086
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

131

29 August 1907

Daniel Callanan
Margaret Jane Arthur

Daniel Callanan
Margaret Jane Arthur
💍 1907/5815

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable
Domestic

26
24

Esk Street, Invercargill
17 Blacks Road North East Valley, Dunedin

8 months
1 year

Residence of Henry Arthur, 17 Blacks Road, North E. Valley, Dunedin

07/5819

29 August 1907

Rev. Henry B. Gray

No	131
Date of Notice	29 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Callanan	Margaret Jane Arthur
	💍 1907/5815
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable	Domestic
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Esk Street, Invercargill	17 Blacks Road North East Valley, Dunedin
Length of Residence	8 months	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Henry Arthur, 17 Blacks Road, North E. Valley, Dunedin
Folio	07/5819
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry B. Gray

132

31 August 1907

George Robert Grieve
Isabella Mollison

George Robert Grieve
Isabella Mollison
💍 1907/5902

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

25
24

Waianiwa, Invercargill
Isla Bank, Riverton

25 years
24 years

Residence of William Mollison, Hill-head, Isla Bank, Riverton

07/5956

31 August 1907

Rev. Henry H. Barton

No	132
Date of Notice	31 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Robert Grieve	Isabella Mollison
	💍 1907/5902
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Waianiwa, Invercargill	Isla Bank, Riverton
Length of Residence	25 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Mollison, Hill-head, Isla Bank, Riverton
Folio	07/5956
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry H. Barton

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).