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 636

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

194

12 December 1907

Arthur Ernest Reid
Isabella Fraser

Arthur Ernest Reid
Isabella Fraser
💍 1907/6699

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Builder
Domestic

29
27

Gladstone, INVERCARGILL
North Invercargill

29 years
27 years

Residence of Daniel Fraser, St Andrew Street, North Invercargill

07/7952

12 December 1907

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	194
Date of Notice	12 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Ernest Reid	Isabella Fraser
	💍 1907/6699
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Builder	Domestic
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	Gladstone, INVERCARGILL	North Invercargill
Length of Residence	29 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Daniel Fraser, St Andrew Street, North Invercargill
Folio	07/7952
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

195

16 December 1907

Charles Alexander McKenzie
Ellen McCann

Charles Alexander McKenzie
Ellen McCann
💍 1907/6766

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic

27
29

Bowmont Street, INVERCARGILL
Dee Street, INVERCARGILL

27 years
2 years

Residence of Mrs. Mary McCann, Dee Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7973

16 December 1907

Rev. Jas Delaney

No	195
Date of Notice	16 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Alexander McKenzie	Ellen McCann
	💍 1907/6766
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	Bowmont Street, INVERCARGILL	Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	27 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Mary McCann, Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7973
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas Delaney

196

16 December 1907

Charles Joseph Butler
Valetta Gladden Lee

Charles Joseph Butler
Valetta Gledden Lee
💍 1907/7921

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Dressmaker

22
26

Morton Mains, INVERCARGILL
Morton Mains, INVERCARGILL

5 days
5 days

Residence of Charles Butler, Morton Mains, INVERCARGILL

07/7939

16 December 1907

Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

No	196
Date of Notice	16 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Joseph Butler	Valetta Gladden Lee
BDM Match (97%)	Charles Joseph Butler	Valetta Gledden Lee
	💍 1907/7921
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Dressmaker
Age	22	26
Dwelling Place	Morton Mains, INVERCARGILL	Morton Mains, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	5 days	5 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Charles Butler, Morton Mains, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7939
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

197

17 December 1907

John Elliott Winsloe
Jeannie Lockie Ryan

John Elliott Winsloe
Jeannie Lockie Ryan
💍 1907/6700

Bachelor
Spinster

Commission Agent
Machinist

22
29

Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Elles Road, North Invercargill

3 days
29 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7953

17 December 1907

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	197
Date of Notice	17 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Elliott Winsloe	Jeannie Lockie Ryan
	💍 1907/6700
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commission Agent	Machinist
Age	22	29
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, INVERCARGILL	Elles Road, North Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7953
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

198

17 December 1907

Edward Albert Rumler
Isabella Martha Blakie

Edward Albert Rumler
Isabella Martha Blakie
💍 1907/7925

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
25

Mokotua, INVERCARGILL
Ryal Bush, INVERCARGILL

18 months
25 years

Presbyterian Church, Ryal Bush, INVERCARGILL

07/7942

17 December 1907

Rev. J. T. Burrows

No	198
Date of Notice	17 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Albert Rumler	Isabella Martha Blakie
	💍 1907/7925
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Mokotua, INVERCARGILL	Ryal Bush, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	18 months	25 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Ryal Bush, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7942
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. T. Burrows

199

17 December 1907

Joseph Hunter Loudon
Sarah McLean Buchanan

Joseph Hunter Loudon
Sarah McLean Buchanan
💍 1907/6695

Widower
Spinster

Salesman
Household Duties

46
29

Leet Street, INVERCARGILL
Waikiwi, INVERCARGILL

3 years
2 years

Residence of Rev. G. Lindsay, Kelvin Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7962

17 December 1907

Rev. G. Lindsay

No	199
Date of Notice	17 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Hunter Loudon	Sarah McLean Buchanan
	💍 1907/6695
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Household Duties
Age	46	29
Dwelling Place	Leet Street, INVERCARGILL	Waikiwi, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. G. Lindsay, Kelvin Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7962
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Lindsay

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).