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 598

District of INVERCARGILL Quarter ending 31 March 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

15 January 1907

Robert John Stevens
Henrietta Louisa McCann

Robert John Stevens
Henrietta Louisa McCann
💍 1907/1589

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic

22
20

Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Dee Street, INVERCARGILL

1 year
1 year

Residence of John McCann, Dee Street, INVERCARGILL

07/1702

John McCann, Father

15 January 1907

Very Rev. Dean Burke

No	7
Date of Notice	15 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Stevens	Henrietta Louisa McCann
	💍 1907/1589
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, INVERCARGILL	Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of John McCann, Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/1702
Consent	John McCann, Father
Date of Certificate	15 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Burke

15 January 1907

Llewellyn Neil
Ellen Isabel Caroline Cooper

Llewellyn Neil
Ellen Isabel Caroline Cooper
💍 1907/1615

Bachelor
Spinster

Labour-agent
Saleswoman

39
29

Arcade, Esk Street, INVERCARGILL
Waikivi, INVERCARGILL

1 year
20 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

07/1706

15 January 1907

Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

No	8
Date of Notice	15 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Llewellyn Neil	Ellen Isabel Caroline Cooper
	💍 1907/1615
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labour-agent	Saleswoman
Age	39	29
Dwelling Place	Arcade, Esk Street, INVERCARGILL	Waikivi, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	1 year	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/1706
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

16 January 1907

Charles Randolph Dewsbury
Mary Helen Little

Charles Randolph Dewsbury
Mary Helen Little
💍 1907/1827

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic

28
30

Esk Street, INVERCARGILL
Tay Street, INVERCARGILL

3 days
30 years

Residence of Adam Little, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL

07/1948

16 January 1907

Rev. F.W. Dunlop

No	9
Date of Notice	16 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Randolph Dewsbury	Mary Helen Little
	💍 1907/1827
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Esk Street, INVERCARGILL	Tay Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 days	30 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Adam Little, Tay Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/1948
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. F.W. Dunlop

18 January 1907

William Gore Wellbrock
Jessie Urquhart

William Gore Wellbrock
Jessie Urquhart
💍 1907/1616

Bachelor
Spinster

Fellmonger
Domestic

21
16

Richmond Grove, East INVERCARGILL
Richmond Grove, East INVERCARGILL

4 years
6 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

07/1707

Robert Urquhart, Father

18 January 1907

Registrar of Marriage, INVERCARGILL

No	10
Date of Notice	18 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gore Wellbrock	Jessie Urquhart
	💍 1907/1616
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fellmonger	Domestic
Age	21	16
Dwelling Place	Richmond Grove, East INVERCARGILL	Richmond Grove, East INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	4 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/1707
Consent	Robert Urquhart, Father
Date of Certificate	18 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriage, INVERCARGILL

19 January 1907

Burnaby Beechley Paton Styles
Cecilia Jane Findlay

Burnaby Beechley Paton Styles
Cecilia Jane Findlay
💍 1907/1828

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Porter
Domestic

21
23

Liddel Street, INVERCARGILL
Liddel Street, INVERCARGILL

3 days
23 years

Residence of James Findlay, Liddel Street, INVERCARGILL

07/1949

19 January 1907

Rev. F.W. Dunlop

No	11
Date of Notice	19 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Burnaby Beechley Paton Styles	Cecilia Jane Findlay
	💍 1907/1828
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Porter	Domestic
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Liddel Street, INVERCARGILL	Liddel Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James Findlay, Liddel Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/1949
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. F.W. Dunlop

24 January 1907

William Fredrick Anderson
Annie Agnes Bain
Maiden Name Burke

William Fredrick Anderson
Annie Agnes Bain
💍 1907/1617

Bachelor
Widow

Watchmaker
Domestic

25
28

Spey Street, INVERCARGILL
Spey Street, INVERCARGILL

25 years
28 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

07/1708

24 January 1907

Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

No	12
Date of Notice	24 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Fredrick Anderson	Annie Agnes Bain Maiden Name Burke
	💍 1907/1617
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Watchmaker	Domestic
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Spey Street, INVERCARGILL	Spey Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	25 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL
Folio	07/1708
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

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).