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 573

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

12 February 1908

Charles Ernest Girvan
Emily Beatrice Bunton

Charles Ernest Girvan
Emily Beatrice Bunton
💍 1908/1701

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Fencer
Domestic

26
18

Yuiot Street, INVERCARGILL
Yuiot Street, INVERCARGILL

3 days
10 years

English Church

08/1735

Bertha Catherine, Mother

12 February 1908

Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

No	24
Date of Notice	12 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Ernest Girvan	Emily Beatrice Bunton
	💍 1908/1701
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Fencer	Domestic
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Yuiot Street, INVERCARGILL	Yuiot Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	English Church
Folio	08/1735
Consent	Bertha Catherine, Mother
Date of Certificate	12 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

13 February 1908

John David Jenkins
Florence Findlay

John David Jenkins
Florence Findlay
💍 1908/1685

Bachelor
Spinster

Shunter, N.Z.R.
Domestic

34
29

Eye Street, INVERCARGILL
Mary Street East, INVERCARGILL

5 years
29 years

Presbyterian Church

08/1743

13 February 1908

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	25
Date of Notice	13 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John David Jenkins	Florence Findlay
	💍 1908/1685
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shunter, N.Z.R.	Domestic
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Eye Street, INVERCARGILL	Mary Street East, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	5 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	08/1743
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

14 February 1908

David George Gray
Isabella Harper

David George Gray
Isabella Harper
💍 1908/1686

Bachelor
Spinster

Sailor
Domestic

24
26

Burke Street North, INVERCARGILL
Gala Street, INVERCARGILL

14 years
22 years

Residence of Andrew Harper

08/1744

14 February 1908

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	26
Date of Notice	14 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David George Gray	Isabella Harper
	💍 1908/1686
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sailor	Domestic
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Burke Street North, INVERCARGILL	Gala Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	14 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Andrew Harper
Folio	08/1744
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

18 February 1908

William James Meadows
Annie Elizabeth Crawley

William James Meadows
Annie Elizabeth Crawley
💍 1908/1687

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Domestic

31
25

Waikaka, Southland
Princes Street South, INVERCARGILL

5 years
25 years

Residence of Thomas Crawley, Nokomai

08/1745

18 February 1908

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	27
Date of Notice	18 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Meadows	Annie Elizabeth Crawley
	💍 1908/1687
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Domestic
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Waikaka, Southland	Princes Street South, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	5 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Thomas Crawley, Nokomai
Folio	08/1745
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

20 February 1908

Robert Dick
Alice May Yosh

Robert Dick
Alice May Tosh
💍 1908/1698

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

25
22

Clifton, INVERCARGILL
Bay Road, INVERCARGILL

4 years
22 years

Residence of John Yosh

08/1757

20 February 1908

Rev. R. Raine

No	28
Date of Notice	20 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Dick	Alice May Yosh
BDM Match (96%)	Robert Dick	Alice May Tosh
	💍 1908/1698
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Clifton, INVERCARGILL	Bay Road, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	4 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Yosh
Folio	08/1757
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Raine

21 February 1908

Robert Percy Ellwood
Annie Rabson Kingsland

Robert Percy Meek
Annie Rabson Kingsland
💍 1908/1689

Bachelor
Spinster

Land Agent
Domestic

36
36

Bowmont Street, INVERCARGILL
50 Tweed Street, INVERCARGILL

5 years
36 years

Residence of John Washer

08/1747

21 February 1908

Rev. G. Lindsay

No	29
Date of Notice	21 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Percy Ellwood	Annie Rabson Kingsland
BDM Match (83%)	Robert Percy Meek	Annie Rabson Kingsland
	💍 1908/1689
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Land Agent	Domestic
Age	36	36
Dwelling Place	Bowmont Street, INVERCARGILL	50 Tweed Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	5 years	36 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Washer
Folio	08/1747
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1908
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).