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 624

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

139

19 September 1907

James Walsh
Catherine McKelly

James Walsh
Catherine McNelly
💍 1907/3950

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway surfaceman
Domestic

42
36

Georgetown, INVERCARGILL
Ettrick Street, INVERCARGILL

25 years
5 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL

07/5904

19 September 1907

Rev. Jas. Delaney

No	139
Date of Notice	19 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Walsh	Catherine McKelly
BDM Match (97%)	James Walsh	Catherine McNelly
	💍 1907/3950
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway surfaceman	Domestic
Age	42	36
Dwelling Place	Georgetown, INVERCARGILL	Ettrick Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	25 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/5904
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Delaney

140

21 September 1907

George Grant Gordon
Henrietta Nancy Tosh

George Frank Gordon
Henrietta Nancy Tosh
💍 1907/6702

Bachelor
Spinster

Platelayer, N.Z.R.
Domestic

30
26

Otatara, INVERCARGILL
Bay Road, INVERCARGILL

19 years
26 years

Residence of John Tosh, Bay Road, INVERCARGILL

07/7955

21 September 1907

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	140
Date of Notice	21 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Grant Gordon	Henrietta Nancy Tosh
BDM Match (95%)	George Frank Gordon	Henrietta Nancy Tosh
	💍 1907/6702
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Platelayer, N.Z.R.	Domestic
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Otatara, INVERCARGILL	Bay Road, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	19 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Tosh, Bay Road, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7955
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

141

23 September 1907

Hubert Ferns
Isobel McQuilkan

Hubert Ferns
Isobel McQuilkan
💍 1907/3937

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic

28
21

Don Street, INVERCARGILL
Princess Street North, INVERCARGILL

6 weeks
5 months

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL

See circle

23 September 1907

Rev. Jas. Delaney

No	141
Date of Notice	23 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hubert Ferns	Isobel McQuilkan
	💍 1907/3937
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Don Street, INVERCARGILL	Princess Street North, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	6 weeks	5 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	See circle
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Delaney

142

23 September 1907

John Allan Doig
Alice Maud Kingston
Maiden Name Hast

John Allan Doig
Alice Maud Kingston
💍 1907/7928

Widower
Widow

Commercial Traveller
Domestic

35
31

McMaster Street East, INVERCARGILL
McMaster Street East, INVERCARGILL

3 days
31 years

Residence of Catherine Hast, McMaster Street East, INVERCARGILL

07/7945

23 September 1907

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	142
Date of Notice	23 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Allan Doig	Alice Maud Kingston Maiden Name Hast
	💍 1907/7928
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic
Age	35	31
Dwelling Place	McMaster Street East, INVERCARGILL	McMaster Street East, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 days	31 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Catherine Hast, McMaster Street East, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7945
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

143

24 September 1907

Fredrick Swain
Agnes Russell

Fredrick Swain
Agnes Russell
💍 1907/3960

Divorced
Widow

Farmer
Farmer

38
44

Gorge Road, INVERCARGILL
Gorge Road, INVERCARGILL

12 years
20 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

07/5891

24 September 1907

Registrar of Marriages Invercargill

No	143
Date of Notice	24 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fredrick Swain	Agnes Russell
	💍 1907/3960
Condition	Divorced	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Farmer
Age	38	44
Dwelling Place	Gorge Road, INVERCARGILL	Gorge Road, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	12 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/5891
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages Invercargill

144

24 September 1907

Andrew Wilson
Mabel Emily Kingsland

Andrew Wilson
Mabel Emily Kingsland
💍 1907/7916

Bachelor
Spinster

Wool-buyer
Domestic

25
21

Liddel Street, INVERCARGILL
Tweed Street, INVERCARGILL

9 years
18 years

English Church, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7934

24 September 1907

Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

No	144
Date of Notice	24 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Wilson	Mabel Emily Kingsland
	💍 1907/7916
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wool-buyer	Domestic
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Liddel Street, INVERCARGILL	Tweed Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	9 years	18 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7934
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).