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 632

District of INVERCARGILL Quarter ending 31 December 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

170

4 November 1907

Donald William Ross
Susanna Jane Westacott

Donald William Ross
Susanna Jane Westacott
💍 1907/7918

Bachelor
Spinster

Picture-Framer
Domestic

40
28

Tay Street, INVERCARGILL
East INVERCARGILL

40 years
2 weeks

English Church, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7936

4 November 1907

Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

No	170
Date of Notice	4 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald William Ross	Susanna Jane Westacott
	💍 1907/7918
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Picture-Framer	Domestic
Age	40	28
Dwelling Place	Tay Street, INVERCARGILL	East INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	40 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7936
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

171

5 November 1907

Alexander Allan Keown
Annie Reid

Alexander Allan Keown
Annie Reid
💍 1907/6691

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Tailoress

28
25

Woodend, INVERCARGILL
Woodend, INVERCARGILL

3 days
25 years

Residence of John Reid, Woodend, INVERCARGILL

07/7958

5 November 1907

Rev. G. Lindsay

No	171
Date of Notice	5 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Allan Keown	Annie Reid
	💍 1907/6691
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Tailoress
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Woodend, INVERCARGILL	Woodend, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Reid, Woodend, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7958
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Lindsay

172

6 November 1907

Norman Alfred Calder
Helena Emma Selwood

Norman Alfred Calder
Helena Emma Selwood
💍 1907/6692

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman N. Z. R.
Domestic

24
24

Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL
Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL

1 year
1 year

Residence of Mrs. Helena Selwood, Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7959

6 November 1907

Rev. G. Lindsay

No	172
Date of Notice	6 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Alfred Calder	Helena Emma Selwood
	💍 1907/6692
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman N. Z. R.	Domestic
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL	Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Helena Selwood, Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7959
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Lindsay

173

6 November 1907

Duncan McKenzie
Jane Macdonald

Duncan McKenzie
Jane Macdonald
💍 1907/6697

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm-manager
Domestic

39
27

Spey Street, INVERCARGILL
Elles Road, South INVERCARGILL

3 days
6 years

Residence of Christina Macdonald, Elles Road, South INVERCARGILL

07/7950

6 November 1907

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	173
Date of Notice	6 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan McKenzie	Jane Macdonald
	💍 1907/6697
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm-manager	Domestic
Age	39	27
Dwelling Place	Spey Street, INVERCARGILL	Elles Road, South INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Christina Macdonald, Elles Road, South INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7950
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

174

8 November 1907

George William Braxton
Margaret Gertrude Henery

George William Braxton
Margaret Gertrude Henery
💍 1907/6785

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Domestic

23
22

Earn Street, INVERCARGILL
Eye Street, INVERCARGILL

5 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7968

8 November 1907

Rev. J. Delaney

No	174
Date of Notice	8 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Braxton	Margaret Gertrude Henery
	💍 1907/6785
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Domestic
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Earn Street, INVERCARGILL	Eye Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	5 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7968
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Delaney

175

8 November 1907

Charles Boult
Annie Lamb

Charles Boult
Annie Lamb
💍 1907/6781

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

32
39

Grasmere, INVERCARGILL
Crinan Street, South INVERCARGILL

3 days
3 days

Residence of Archibald McLean, Crinan Street, South INVERCARGILL

07/7987

8 November 1907

Rev. T. A. Pybus

No	175
Date of Notice	8 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Boult	Annie Lamb
	💍 1907/6781
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	32	39
Dwelling Place	Grasmere, INVERCARGILL	Crinan Street, South INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Archibald McLean, Crinan Street, South INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7987
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. Pybus

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).