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 583

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 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

29 April 1908

James Herbert Simons
Hannah Ross Marshall

James Herbert Simons
Hannah Ross Marshall
💍 1908/5552

Bachelor
Spinster

Foreman
Domestic

31
20

Spar Bush, Invercargill
Spar Bush, Invercargill

3 days
4 years

Residence of John Marshall, Spar Bush, Invercargill

08/4066

John Marshall, Father

29 April 1908

Rev. J. Y. Burrows

No	80
Date of Notice	29 April 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Herbert Simons	Hannah Ross Marshall
	💍 1908/5552
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Foreman	Domestic
Age	31	20
Dwelling Place	Spar Bush, Invercargill	Spar Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Marshall, Spar Bush, Invercargill
Folio	08/4066
Consent	John Marshall, Father
Date of Certificate	29 April 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Y. Burrows

29 April 1908

Joseph Sheath
Isabella Bryce McIndoe

Joseph Sheath
Isabella Bryce
💍 1908/5526

Bachelor
Widow

Station Manager
Domestic

43
36

Esk Street, Invercargill
Maitland Street South, Invercargill

3 days
6 months

Residence of William Low, Maitland Street South, Invercargill

08/4040

29 April 1908

Rev. F. W. Dunlop

No	81
Date of Notice	29 April 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Sheath	Isabella Bryce McIndoe
BDM Match (82%)	Joseph Sheath	Isabella Bryce
	💍 1908/5526
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Station Manager	Domestic
Age	43	36
Dwelling Place	Esk Street, Invercargill	Maitland Street South, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Residence of William Low, Maitland Street South, Invercargill
Folio	08/4040
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 April 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Dunlop

29 April 1908

Daniel Murphy
Mary Ellen McCann

Daniel Murphy
Mary Ellen McCann
💍 1908/5746

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

33
24

Roslyn Bush, Invercargill
Makarewa, Invercargill

3 days
24 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

08/4286

29 April 1908

Very Rev. Dean Burke

No	82
Date of Notice	29 April 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Murphy	Mary Ellen McCann
	💍 1908/5746
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Roslyn Bush, Invercargill	Makarewa, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/4286
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 April 1908
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Burke

4 May 1908

John Anderson
Frances Sarah Sutton

John Anderson
Frances Sarah Sutton
💍 1908/5514

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Agent
Domestic

31
18

Union Street, Invercargill
Union Street, Invercargill

31 years
2 years

Residence of Charles James Sutton

08/4052

Charles James Sutton, Father

4 May 1908

Rev. Geo. Lindsay

No	83
Date of Notice	4 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Anderson	Frances Sarah Sutton
	💍 1908/5514
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Agent	Domestic
Age	31	18
Dwelling Place	Union Street, Invercargill	Union Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	31 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Charles James Sutton
Folio	08/4052
Consent	Charles James Sutton, Father
Date of Certificate	4 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Lindsay

5 May 1908

Joseph Emanuel Green
Margaret Grant Munro

Joseph Emanuel Green
Margaret Grant Munro
💍 1908/5525

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Domestic

35
31

Dee Street, Invercargill
Okoia, Invercargill

3 days
31 years

Residence of James Munro, Okoia, Invercargill

08/4039

5 May 1908

Rev. Charles A. Gray

No	84
Date of Notice	5 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Emanuel Green	Margaret Grant Munro
	💍 1908/5525
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Domestic
Age	35	31
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, Invercargill	Okoia, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	31 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James Munro, Okoia, Invercargill
Folio	08/4039
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Charles A. Gray

6 May 1908

Walter Broad
Alice Harris

Walter Broad
Alice Harris
💍 1908/5487

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker
Dressmaker

21
18

Waikuivi, Invercargill
Waikuivi, Invercargill

21 years
18 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

08/4023

George Thomas Harris, Father

6 May 1908

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	85
Date of Notice	6 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Broad	Alice Harris
	💍 1908/5487
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker	Dressmaker
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Waikuivi, Invercargill	Waikuivi, Invercargill
Length of Residence	21 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	08/4023
Consent	George Thomas Harris, Father
Date of Certificate	6 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

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).