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 638

District of INVERCARGILL Quarter ending 31 December 1907 Registrar J. G. Petrie

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

206

23 December 1907

Alfred Saunders
Lydia Frances Bates

Alfred Saunders
Lydie Frances Betes
💍 1908/1692

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

26
16

Tay Street, INVERCARGILL
Woodend, INVERCARGILL

3 months
16 years

Residence of Margaret Hudson, Woodend, INVERCARGILL

08/1732

Margaret Hudson, mother of bride

23 December 1907

Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

No	206
Date of Notice	23 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Saunders	Lydia Frances Bates
BDM Match (95%)	Alfred Saunders	Lydie Frances Betes
	💍 1908/1692
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	26	16
Dwelling Place	Tay Street, INVERCARGILL	Woodend, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 months	16 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Margaret Hudson, Woodend, INVERCARGILL
Folio	08/1732
Consent	Margaret Hudson, mother of bride
Date of Certificate	23 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

207

23 December 1907

James Henry Pink
Irene Watson

James Henry Pink
Irene Watson
💍 1908/1705

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill-hand
Domestic

32
20

Waianiwa, INVERCARGILL
Gladstone, INVERCARGILL

25 years
9 years

Presbyterian Church, Waianiwa, INVERCARGILL

08/1739

Under Sec 3 of Sec 24 will probably issue on 7th Jan '08

No	207
Date of Notice	23 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Pink	Irene Watson
	💍 1908/1705
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill-hand	Domestic
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Waianiwa, INVERCARGILL	Gladstone, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	25 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Waianiwa, INVERCARGILL
Folio	08/1739
Consent
Date of Certificate	Under Sec 3 of Sec 24 will probably issue on 7th Jan '08
Officiating Minister

208

24 December 1907

Martin Larner
Annie O'Brien

Martin Larner
Annie O'Brien
💍 1907/6768

Bachelor
Spinster

Platelayer
Domestic

28
21

Don Street, INVERCARGILL
Avenal, INVERCARGILL

3 days
18 months

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7975

24 December 1907

Rev. J. Delaney

No	208
Date of Notice	24 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Martin Larner	Annie O'Brien
	💍 1907/6768
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Platelayer	Domestic
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Don Street, INVERCARGILL	Avenal, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 days	18 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7975
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Delaney

209

31 December 1907

Alexander Sharp
Alice Brass

Alexander Sharp
Alice Brass
💍 1908/1683

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic

32
26

Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Elles Road East, INVERCARGILL

3 days
4 years

Residence of Daniel Phillips, Elles Road East, INVERCARGILL

08/1741

31 December 1907

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	209
Date of Notice	31 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Sharp	Alice Brass
	💍 1908/1683
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, INVERCARGILL	Elles Road East, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Daniel Phillips, Elles Road East, INVERCARGILL
Folio	08/1741
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

210

31 December 1907

Robert Milne
May Susan Wellbrock

Robert Milne
Mabel Susan Wellbrock
💍 1908/5539

Bachelor
Spinster

Dredge-hand
Domestic

21
23

Richmond Grove, INVERCARGILL
Richmond Grove, INVERCARGILL

4 days
3 years

Residence of Martin Wellbrock, Richmond Grove, INVERCARGILL

08/1748

31 December 1907

Rev. A. Mitchell

No	210
Date of Notice	31 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Milne	May Susan Wellbrock
BDM Match (93%)	Robert Milne	Mabel Susan Wellbrock
	💍 1908/5539
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dredge-hand	Domestic
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Richmond Grove, INVERCARGILL	Richmond Grove, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	4 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Martin Wellbrock, Richmond Grove, INVERCARGILL
Folio	08/1748
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Mitchell

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).