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 623

District of INVERCARGILL Quarter ending 30 September 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

133

5 September 1907

Archibald Dobbie
Margaret McGregor Steel

Archibald Dobbie
Margaret McGregor Steel
💍 1907/5881

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairy Factory Manager
Dressmaker

34
24

Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
West Plains, INVERCARGILL

5 days
24 years

Residence of Mrs. Alexander Steel, West Plains, INVERCARGILL

07/5911

5 September 1907

Rev. J. Cumming

No	133
Date of Notice	5 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Dobbie	Margaret McGregor Steel
	💍 1907/5881
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairy Factory Manager	Dressmaker
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, INVERCARGILL	West Plains, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	5 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Alexander Steel, West Plains, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/5911
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cumming

134

13 September 1907

James Alexander Hamilton
Nellie Theresa Forde

James Alexander Hamilton
Nellie Theresa Forde
💍 1907/6769

Bachelor
Spinster

Tally Clerk
Domestic

28
22

Waikiwi, Invercargill
Waikiwi, Invercargill

18 months
12 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7976

13 September 1907

Rev. J. Delaney

No	134
Date of Notice	13 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alexander Hamilton	Nellie Theresa Forde
	💍 1907/6769
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tally Clerk	Domestic
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Waikiwi, Invercargill	Waikiwi, Invercargill
Length of Residence	18 months	12 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7976
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Delaney

135

13 September 1907

James Alexander Nicol
Margaret Gilmour Anderson

James Alexander Nicol
Margaret Gilmour Anderson
💍 1907/5883

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

22
25

Tisburn, INVERCARGILL
Princess Street, North INVERCARGILL

22 years
2 years

Residence of Millar Anderson, Princes Street North, INVERCARGILL

07/5913

13 September 1907

Rev. T. A. Pybus

No	135
Date of Notice	13 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alexander Nicol	Margaret Gilmour Anderson
	💍 1907/5883
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Tisburn, INVERCARGILL	Princess Street, North INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	22 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Millar Anderson, Princes Street North, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/5913
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. Pybus

136

17 September 1907

Claude Howard Belsham
Emily Georgina Fellows

Claude Howard Belsham
Emily Georgina Fellows
💍 1907/5873

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman N.Z.R.
Domestic

24
21

Crinan Street, INVERCARGILL
Crinan Street, INVERCARGILL

3 days
21 years

Church of Christ, Bowmont Street, INVERCARGILL

07/5909

17 September 1907

Mr. W. D. Little

No	136
Date of Notice	17 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Claude Howard Belsham	Emily Georgina Fellows
	💍 1907/5873
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman N.Z.R.	Domestic
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Crinan Street, INVERCARGILL	Crinan Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Bowmont Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/5909
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Mr. W. D. Little

137

18 September 1907

Robert Scott
Barbara Andrew Giffen

Robert Scott
Barbara Andrew Giffen
💍 1907/6776

Bachelor
Spinster

Gas Stoker
Domestic

31
20

Inglewood, INVERCARGILL
Inglewood, INVERCARGILL

4 years
8 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Don Street, INVERCARGILL

07/7982

Julia Grace Giffen, Mother

18 September 1907

Rev. R. Raine

No	137
Date of Notice	18 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Scott	Barbara Andrew Giffen
	💍 1907/6776
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gas Stoker	Domestic
Age	31	20
Dwelling Place	Inglewood, INVERCARGILL	Inglewood, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	4 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Don Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/7982
Consent	Julia Grace Giffen, Mother
Date of Certificate	18 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Raine

138

18 September 1907

George Gibson
Mary Fincher
Maiden Name Hill

George Gibson
Mary Fincher
💍 1907/3951

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic

34
37

Gorge Road, INVERCARGILL
Gorge Road, INVERCARGILL

3 months
3 months

Residence of Ven. Archdeacon Stocker, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL

07/5905

18 September 1907

Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

No	138
Date of Notice	18 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Gibson	Mary Fincher Maiden Name Hill
	💍 1907/3951
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	34	37
Dwelling Place	Gorge Road, INVERCARGILL	Gorge Road, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Ven. Archdeacon Stocker, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/5905
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 September 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).