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 631

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

164

30 October 1907

James Robertson
Marion Barrie Collett

James Robertson
Marion Barrie Collett
💍 1907/6696

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Domestic

28
19

Eye Street, INVERCARGILL
Spar Bush, INVERCARGILL

1 year
1 year

Residence of Rev. R. Ferguson, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7949

James Henry Collett, Father

30 October 1907

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	164
Date of Notice	30 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Robertson	Marion Barrie Collett
	💍 1907/6696
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Eye Street, INVERCARGILL	Spar Bush, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. R. Ferguson, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7949
Consent	James Henry Collett, Father
Date of Certificate	30 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

165

1 November 1907

Robert Francis Greenwood
Sarah Dixon

Robert Francis Greenwood
Sarah Dixon
💍 1907/6780

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

22
24

Thames Street, INVERCARGILL
Dee Street, INVERCARGILL

12 years
24 years

Residence of John Henry Dixon, Dee Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7986

1 November 1907

Rev. T. A. Pybus

No	165
Date of Notice	1 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Francis Greenwood	Sarah Dixon
	💍 1907/6780
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Thames Street, INVERCARGILL	Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	12 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Henry Dixon, Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7986
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. Pybus

166

2 November 1907

David Scott
Agnes Louisa Scott

David Scott
Agnes Louisa Scott
💍 1907/7927

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

54
44

Wallacetown, INVERCARGILL
Crinan Street, INVERCARGILL

28 years
4 years

Knox Presbyterian Church, Conon Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7944

2 November 1907

Rev. F. W. Dunlop

No	166
Date of Notice	2 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Scott	Agnes Louisa Scott
	💍 1907/7927
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	54	44
Dwelling Place	Wallacetown, INVERCARGILL	Crinan Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	28 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Knox Presbyterian Church, Conon Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7944
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Dunlop

167

4 November 1907

Patrick Crowe
Mary Fahey

Patrick Crowe
Mary Fahey
💍 1907/6784

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

37
33

Mill Road, INVERCARGILL
Mill Road, INVERCARGILL

3 days
5 weeks

Residence of Thomas Scully, Mill Road, INVERCARGILL

07/7967

4 November 1907

Rev. Jas. O'Malley

No	167
Date of Notice	4 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Crowe	Mary Fahey
	💍 1907/6784
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	37	33
Dwelling Place	Mill Road, INVERCARGILL	Mill Road, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 days	5 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Thomas Scully, Mill Road, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7967
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. O'Malley

168

4 November 1907

James Henry Bowden Rillstone
Isebel Campbell Patterson

James Henry Bowden Rillston
Isabell Campbell Patterson
💍 1907/6690

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic

22
24

Princess Street, South INVERCARGILL
Georgetown South, INVERCARGILL

18 months
3 years

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

07/7957

4 November 1907

Rev. G. Lindsay

No	168
Date of Notice	4 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Bowden Rillstone	Isebel Campbell Patterson
BDM Match (94%)	James Henry Bowden Rillston	Isabell Campbell Patterson
	💍 1907/6690
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Princess Street, South INVERCARGILL	Georgetown South, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	18 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. G. Lindsay, Kelvin Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7957
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Lindsay

169

4 November 1907

Tom Genge
Elizabeth Walker

Tom Genge
Elizabeth Walker
💍 1907/7917

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Fruiterer

25
24

Tisbury, INVERCARGILL
Tisbury, INVERCARGILL

1 year
3 days

English Church, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7935

4 November 1907

Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

No	169
Date of Notice	4 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Tom Genge	Elizabeth Walker
	💍 1907/7917
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Fruiterer
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Tisbury, INVERCARGILL	Tisbury, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	1 year	3 days
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7935
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

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).