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 635

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

188

29 November 1907

James Robertson
Laura Stone

James Robertson
Laura Stone
💍 1907/6788

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

25
30

Don Street, INVERCARGILL
Gladstone, INVERCARGILL

10 years
12 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7971

29 November 1907

Rev. J. Delaney

No	188
Date of Notice	29 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Robertson	Laura Stone
	💍 1907/6788
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	25	30
Dwelling Place	Don Street, INVERCARGILL	Gladstone, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	10 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7971
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Delaney

189

2 December 1907

William Blondell
Rose Hannah Williams

William Blondell
Rose Hannah Williams
💍 1907/7920

Widower
Widow

Labourer
Domestic

68
64

Georgetown, INVERCARGILL
Hawthorndale, INVERCARGILL

5 years
20 years

Residence of John Williams, Mill Road, INVERCARGILL

07/7938

2 December 1907

Rev. Archdeacon Stocker

No	189
Date of Notice	2 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Blondell	Rose Hannah Williams
	💍 1907/7920
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	68	64
Dwelling Place	Georgetown, INVERCARGILL	Hawthorndale, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Williams, Mill Road, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7938
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Archdeacon Stocker

190

3 December 1907

Claude Forbes Williams
Sarah Mary Daisy Williams

Claude Forbes Williams
Sarah Mary Daisy Williams
💍 1907/6694

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

27
28

Awarua Plains, INVERCARGILL
Awarua Plains, INVERCARGILL

1 month
13 years

Residence of Richard William Williams, Awarua Plains, INVERCARGILL

07/7961

3 December 1907

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	190
Date of Notice	3 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Claude Forbes Williams	Sarah Mary Daisy Williams
	💍 1907/6694
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Awarua Plains, INVERCARGILL	Awarua Plains, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	1 month	13 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Richard William Williams, Awarua Plains, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7961
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

191

6 December 1907

William John Ferguson
Lily Strang

William John Ferguson
Lily Strang
💍 1907/6698

Bachelor
Spinster

Music Teacher
Domestic

30
22

Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL
Esk Street, INVERCARGILL

14 years
22 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7951

6 December 1907

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	191
Date of Notice	6 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Ferguson	Lily Strang
	💍 1907/6698
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Music Teacher	Domestic
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL	Esk Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	14 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7951
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

192

7 December 1907

Charles Henry Roff
Isabella Agnes Maher

Charles Henry Roff
Isabella Agnes Maher
💍 1907/6765

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill Hand
Domestic

22
32

Clifton, INVERCARGILL
Kew, INVERCARGILL

22 years
32 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7972

7 December 1907

Rev. J. Delaney

No	192
Date of Notice	7 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Roff	Isabella Agnes Maher
	💍 1907/6765
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill Hand	Domestic
Age	22	32
Dwelling Place	Clifton, INVERCARGILL	Kew, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	22 years	32 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7972
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Delaney

193

12 December 1907

Philip James Shanks
Jane Elizabeth Anderson

Philip James Shanks
Jane Elizabeth Anderson
💍 1907/7944

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Agent
Domestic

33
25

Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Mataura

5 weeks
25 years

Residence of Alexander Anderson, 42 Wyndham Road, Mataura

07/8002

12 December 1907

Rev. Geo. Macdonald

No	193
Date of Notice	12 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip James Shanks	Jane Elizabeth Anderson
	💍 1907/7944
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Agent	Domestic
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, INVERCARGILL	Mataura
Length of Residence	5 weeks	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Alexander Anderson, 42 Wyndham Road, Mataura
Folio	07/8002
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Macdonald

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).