Intentions to Marry, 1908 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840438, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1908 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1908a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1908b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1908c).

Page 571

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1908 Registrar John Gaunson Petrie

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

24 January 1908

William John West
Elizabeth Duthie

William John West
Elizabeth Duthrie
💍 1908/1725

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic

45
43

Dee Street, Invercargill
Esk Street, Invercargill

1 year
20 years

Clarendon Hotel, Esk Street, Invercargill

08/1762

24 January 1908

Wm. D. Little

No	12
Date of Notice	24 January 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John West	Elizabeth Duthie
BDM Match (97%)	William John West	Elizabeth Duthrie
	💍 1908/1725
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	45	43
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, Invercargill	Esk Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 year	20 years
Marriage Place	Clarendon Hotel, Esk Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/1762
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1908
Officiating Minister	Wm. D. Little

29 January 1908

Alfred Henry Northington
Margaret Katherine Jamison

Alfred Henry Worthington
Margaret Katherine Jamieson
💍 1908/1726

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

33
30

Layard Street North, Invercargill
Layard Street North, Invercargill

3 days
3 years

Residence of Mr. James Jamison, Layard Street North, Invercargill

08/1763

29 January 1908

Wm. D. Little

No	13
Date of Notice	29 January 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Henry Northington	Margaret Katherine Jamison
BDM Match (96%)	Alfred Henry Worthington	Margaret Katherine Jamieson
	💍 1908/1726
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	33	30
Dwelling Place	Layard Street North, Invercargill	Layard Street North, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. James Jamison, Layard Street North, Invercargill
Folio	08/1763
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1908
Officiating Minister	Wm. D. Little

29 January 1908

John Henry Hurrell
Emily Butler

John Henry Hurrell
Emily Butler
💍 1908/1723

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Domestic

24
31

Elles Road South, Invercargill
Elles Road South, Invercargill

2 years
31 years

Residence of Mr. Elijah Butler, Elles Road South, Invercargill

08/1760

29 January 1908

Reverend Y. A. Bybus

No	14
Date of Notice	29 January 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Hurrell	Emily Butler
	💍 1908/1723
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Domestic
Age	24	31
Dwelling Place	Elles Road South, Invercargill	Elles Road South, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	31 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Elijah Butler, Elles Road South, Invercargill
Folio	08/1760
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1908
Officiating Minister	Reverend Y. A. Bybus

30 January 1908

George Frederick Shang
Marjorie Elizabeth Harper

George Frederick Strang
Marjorie Elizabeth Harper
💍 1908/1684

Bachelor
Spinster

Goldsmith
Dressmaker

26
26

Yarrow Street, Invercargill
Catherine Street North, Invercargill

14 years
26 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

08/1742

30 January 1908

Reverend R. Ferguson

No	15
Date of Notice	30 January 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Frederick Shang	Marjorie Elizabeth Harper
BDM Match (96%)	George Frederick Strang	Marjorie Elizabeth Harper
	💍 1908/1684
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Goldsmith	Dressmaker
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Yarrow Street, Invercargill	Catherine Street North, Invercargill
Length of Residence	14 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/1742
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1908
Officiating Minister	Reverend R. Ferguson

30 January 1908

George Andrew Phillips
Martha Margaret Hodgkinson

George Andrew Phillips
Martha Margt Hodgkinson
💍 1908/7413

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

22
34

Ryal Bush, Invercargill
Ryal Bush, Invercargill

1 year
34 years

Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, Invercargill

08/6027

30 January 1908

Reverend J. C. Simpson

No	16
Date of Notice	30 January 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Andrew Phillips	Martha Margaret Hodgkinson
BDM Match (94%)	George Andrew Phillips	Martha Margt Hodgkinson
	💍 1908/7413
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	22	34
Dwelling Place	Ryal Bush, Invercargill	Ryal Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 year	34 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/6027
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1908
Officiating Minister	Reverend J. C. Simpson

3 February 1908

John Whitson Stewart Vincent
Minnie Amelia Foster

John Whitson Dunedin Stewart Vincent
Minnie Amelia Foster
💍 1908/1700

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic

25
26

Elles Road South, Invercargill
Elles Road South, Invercargill

25 years
16 years

English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

08/1734

3 February 1908

Venerable Archdeacon Stocker

No	17
Date of Notice	3 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Whitson Stewart Vincent	Minnie Amelia Foster
BDM Match (89%)	John Whitson Dunedin Stewart Vincent	Minnie Amelia Foster
	💍 1908/1700
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Elles Road South, Invercargill	Elles Road South, Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 years	16 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/1734
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Venerable 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).