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 608

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

3 April 1907

William John Sapwell
Maud Patterson

William John Sapwell
Charlotte Maud Patterson
💍 1907/3268

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

24
22

Georgetown, Invercargill
Georgetown, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Residence of Mr David Wale, Georgetown South, Invercargill

07/3723

3 April 1907

Rev. George Lindsay

No	51
Date of Notice	3 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Sapwell	Maud Patterson
BDM Match (79%)	William John Sapwell	Charlotte Maud Patterson
	💍 1907/3268
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Georgetown, Invercargill	Georgetown, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr David Wale, Georgetown South, Invercargill
Folio	07/3723
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Lindsay

3 April 1907

Archibald Nairn MacGibbon
Mary Elizabeth Mair

Archibald Nairn MacGibbon
Mary Elizabeth Mair
💍 1907/3252

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant
Domestic

30
31

Esk Street, Invercargill
Liddel Street, Invercargill

3 days
31 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

07/3731

3 April 1907

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	52
Date of Notice	3 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Nairn MacGibbon	Mary Elizabeth Mair
	💍 1907/3252
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant	Domestic
Age	30	31
Dwelling Place	Esk Street, Invercargill	Liddel Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	31 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	07/3731
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

3 April 1907

George Rodger
Lucy Miriam McKinnon

George Rodger
Lucy Miriam McKinnon
💍 1907/4437

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

23
24

Wright's Bush, Invercargill
Wright's Bush, Invercargill

3 days
24 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

07/3711

3 April 1907

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	53
Date of Notice	3 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Rodger	Lucy Miriam McKinnon
	💍 1907/4437
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Wright's Bush, Invercargill	Wright's Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	07/3711
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

3 April 1907

John Bayne
Mary Ann Hitchcock

John Bayne
Mary Ann Hitchcock
💍 1907/4464

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

27
29

McQuarrie Street South, Invercargill
Waimatuku, Invercargill

5 years
29 years

Residence of Rev. F.W. Dunlop, Curian Street, Invercargill

07/3749

3 April 1907

Rev. F.W. Dunlop

No	54
Date of Notice	3 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bayne	Mary Ann Hitchcock
	💍 1907/4464
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	McQuarrie Street South, Invercargill	Waimatuku, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. F.W. Dunlop, Curian Street, Invercargill
Folio	07/3749
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. F.W. Dunlop

4 April 1907

James Bernard McGearty
Margaret Collins

James Bernard McGearty
Margaret Collins
💍 1907/4681

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

24
27

Wallacetown, Invercargill
Dee Street, Invercargill

24 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Church, Waikiwi, Invercargill

07/4067

4 April 1907

Rev. James O'Malley

No	55
Date of Notice	4 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Bernard McGearty	Margaret Collins
	💍 1907/4681
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	24	27
Dwelling Place	Wallacetown, Invercargill	Dee Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	24 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Waikiwi, Invercargill
Folio	07/4067
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. James O'Malley

5 April 1907

William John McMahon
Jane Wills

William John McMahon
Jane Wills
💍 1907/4689

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

26
24

Gladstone, Invercargill
Ettrick Street, Invercargill

2 years
24 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

07/4068

5 April 1907

Rev. James O'Malley

No	56
Date of Notice	5 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John McMahon	Jane Wills
	💍 1907/4689
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Gladstone, Invercargill	Ettrick Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	07/4068
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. James O'Malley

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).