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 634

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

182

20 November 1907

Robert Aitken
Beatrice Watt

Robert Aitken
Beatrice Watt
💍 1907/7938

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabman
Domestic

32
19

Elles Road, South Invercargill
Dee Street, Invercargill

30 years
1 year

Residence of William Lewis, Grace Street, Appleby, Invercargill

07/7988

William Watt, Father

20 November 1907

Rev. T. A. Pybus

No	182
Date of Notice	20 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Aitken	Beatrice Watt
	💍 1907/7938
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabman	Domestic
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Elles Road, South Invercargill	Dee Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	30 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of William Lewis, Grace Street, Appleby, Invercargill
Folio	07/7988
Consent	William Watt, Father
Date of Certificate	20 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. Pybus

183

20 November 1907

William Shuffill
Jane Christina Ross

William Shuffill
Jane Christina Ross
💍 1907/7914

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

59
33

Clifton, Invercargill
Clifton, Invercargill

30 years
33 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

07/7932

20 November 1907

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	183
Date of Notice	20 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Shuffill	Jane Christina Ross
	💍 1907/7914
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	59	33
Dwelling Place	Clifton, Invercargill	Clifton, Invercargill
Length of Residence	30 years	33 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	07/7932
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

184

22 November 1907

Samuel George Miles
Anne Dewar Walker

Samuel George Miles
Anne Dewar Walker
💍 1907/7926

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Waitress

26
24

Gala Street, Invercargill
Gladstone, Invercargill

3 years
3 days

English Church, Gladstone, Invercargill

07/7943

22 November 1907

Rev. W. Swinburn

No	184
Date of Notice	22 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel George Miles	Anne Dewar Walker
	💍 1907/7926
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Waitress
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Gala Street, Invercargill	Gladstone, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	3 days
Marriage Place	English Church, Gladstone, Invercargill
Folio	07/7943
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Swinburn

185

23 November 1907

Wilfred King Dixon
Edith Wesney

Wilfred King Dixon
Edith Wesney
💍 1907/6770

Bachelor
Spinster

Manufacturer's Agent
Domestic

30
25

Nith Street, Invercargill
Nith Street, Invercargill

3 years
25 years

Wesleyan Church, Leet Street, Invercargill

07/7977

23 November 1907

Rev. A. Mitchell

No	185
Date of Notice	23 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Wilfred King Dixon	Edith Wesney
	💍 1907/6770
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Manufacturer's Agent	Domestic
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Nith Street, Invercargill	Nith Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Leet Street, Invercargill
Folio	07/7977
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Mitchell

186

25 November 1907

Frederick Ladbrook
Jane Bray

Frederick Ladbrook
Jane Bray
💍 1907/7956

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic

28
25

Princes Street, North Invercargill
Trafalgar, South Invercargill

4 months
4 months

Residence of George West, Tweed Street, Enwood, Invercargill

07/7990

25 November 1907

Rev. Wm. D. Little

No	186
Date of Notice	25 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Ladbrook	Jane Bray
	💍 1907/7956
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Princes Street, North Invercargill	Trafalgar, South Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 months	4 months
Marriage Place	Residence of George West, Tweed Street, Enwood, Invercargill
Folio	07/7990
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. D. Little

187

29 November 1907

Alaster William Macdonald
Martha Stone

Alaster William Macdonald
Martha Stone
💍 1907/6787

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

35
25

Esk Street, Invercargill
Gladstone, Invercargill

3 weeks
25 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

07/7970

29 November 1907

Rev. J. Delaney

No	187
Date of Notice	29 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alaster William Macdonald	Martha Stone
	💍 1907/6787
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	35	25
Dwelling Place	Esk Street, Invercargill	Gladstone, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 weeks	25 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	07/7970
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Delaney

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).