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 615

District of INVERCARGILL Quarter ending 30 June 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

29 May 1907

Francis O'Donnell
Christina Ferguson

Francis O'Donnell
Christina Ferguson
💍 1907/3256

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

62
46

Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Jed Street, INVERCARGILL

3 days
30 years

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

07/3735

29 May 1907

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	87
Date of Notice	29 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis O'Donnell	Christina Ferguson
	💍 1907/3256
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	62	46
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, INVERCARGILL	Jed Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 days	30 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. R. Ferguson, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/3735
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

31 May 1907

Cleland William Lang Taylor
Lilian Maria Brass

Cleland William Lang Taylor
Lilian Maria Brass
💍 1907/3260

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic

25
25

Woodlands, INVERCARGILL
Woodlands, INVERCARGILL

22 years
25 years

Residence of Mrs Maria J. Brass, Woodlands, INVERCARGILL

07/3738

31 May 1907

Rev. E. Bisset

No	88
Date of Notice	31 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cleland William Lang Taylor	Lilian Maria Brass
	💍 1907/3260
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Woodlands, INVERCARGILL	Woodlands, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	22 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Maria J. Brass, Woodlands, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/3738
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Bisset

1 June 1907

William George Walters
Mary Louisa Wain

William George Walters
Mary Louisa Wain
💍 1907/4433

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic

22
21

Spey Street, INVERCARGILL
Spey Street, INVERCARGILL

1 month
3 days

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

07/3717

1 June 1907

Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

No	89
Date of Notice	1 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Walters	Mary Louisa Wain
	💍 1907/4433
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Spey Street, INVERCARGILL	Spey Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	1 month	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	07/3717
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

5 June 1907

Archibald John Campbell
Isabella Ramsay Strang

Archibald John Campbell
Isabella Ramsay Strang
💍 1907/3257

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Accountant
Domestic

29
25

Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Esk Street, INVERCARGILL

3 days
25 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL

07/3736

5 June 1907

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	90
Date of Notice	5 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald John Campbell	Isabella Ramsay Strang
	💍 1907/3257
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Accountant	Domestic
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, INVERCARGILL	Esk Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/3736
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

5 June 1907

Hugh Edward McDermott
Margaret Maud Blackmun

Hugh Edward McDermott
Margaret Maud Blackmun
💍 1907/3247

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

21
17

Princess Street, South INVERCARGILL
Princess Street, South INVERCARGILL

21 years
8 months

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

07/3718

William Blackmun, father

5 June 1907

Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

No	91
Date of Notice	5 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Edward McDermott	Margaret Maud Blackmun
	💍 1907/3247
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Princess Street, South INVERCARGILL	Princess Street, South INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	21 years	8 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/3718
Consent	William Blackmun, father
Date of Certificate	5 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

7 June 1907

Charles Philip Shand
Janet Hood Bain

Charles Philip Shand
Janet Hood Bain
💍 1907/3250

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic

25
20

Yarrow Street, INVERCARGILL
Avenal Road, INVERCARGILL

1 year
20 years

Residence of Benjamin Bain, Avenal Road, INVERCARGILL

07/3729

Benjamin Bain, father

7 June 1907

Rev. G. Lindsay

No	92
Date of Notice	7 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Philip Shand	Janet Hood Bain
	💍 1907/3250
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Yarrow Street, INVERCARGILL	Avenal Road, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	1 year	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Benjamin Bain, Avenal Road, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/3729
Consent	Benjamin Bain, father
Date of Certificate	7 June 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).