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 592

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 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

113

22 June 1908

James Phillips
Margaret Bennett

James Phillips
Margaret Bennett
💍 1908/7368

Batchelor
Spinster

Flaxmill-hand
Domestic

19
19

George Street, North Invercargill
Mary Street, East Invercargill

2 weeks
8 months

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

08/5979

Thomas James Bennett, Father

10 July 1908

The Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	113
Date of Notice	22 June 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Phillips	Margaret Bennett
	💍 1908/7368
Condition	Batchelor	Spinster
Profession	Flaxmill-hand	Domestic
Age	19	19
Dwelling Place	George Street, North Invercargill	Mary Street, East Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 weeks	8 months
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	08/5979
Consent	Thomas James Bennett, Father
Date of Certificate	10 July 1908
Officiating Minister	The Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

118

2 July 1908

Frederick Paget Waymouth
Marguerite Eliza Augusta Taylor

Frederick Pojet Waymouth
Marguerite Eliza Augusta Taylor
💍 1908/3932

Batchelor
Spinster

Bank-clerk
House-holder

38
24

Clyde Street, Invercargill
Woodlands, Invercargill

5 years
24 years

Residence of William Laing Taylor, Woodlands, Invercargill

08/5993

2 July 1908

Rev. R. Bissett

No	118
Date of Notice	2 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Paget Waymouth	Marguerite Eliza Augusta Taylor
BDM Match (96%)	Frederick Pojet Waymouth	Marguerite Eliza Augusta Taylor
	💍 1908/3932
Condition	Batchelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank-clerk	House-holder
Age	38	24
Dwelling Place	Clyde Street, Invercargill	Woodlands, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Laing Taylor, Woodlands, Invercargill
Folio	08/5993
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Bissett

119

4 July 1908

Felix Wemick
Ellen Walsh

Felix Clenick
Ellen Walsh
💍 1908/7414

Batchelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

22
14

Dee Street, Invercargill
Dee Street, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

08/6009

Mary Walsh, mother

4 July 1908

Very Rev. Dean Burke

No	119
Date of Notice	4 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Felix Wemick	Ellen Walsh
BDM Match (88%)	Felix Clenick	Ellen Walsh
	💍 1908/7414
Condition	Batchelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	22	14
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, Invercargill	Dee Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/6009
Consent	Mary Walsh, mother
Date of Certificate	4 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Burke

120

4 July 1908

Thomas James Flanagan
Ellen Milne

Thomas James Flanagan
Ellen Stom
💍 1908/7420

Batchelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dressmaker

29
29

Irk Street, Invercargill
Gladstone, Invercargill

2 years
5 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

08/6010

4 July 1908

Rev. James O'Malley

No	120
Date of Notice	4 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas James Flanagan	Ellen Milne
BDM Match (77%)	Thomas James Flanagan	Ellen Stom
	💍 1908/7420
Condition	Batchelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dressmaker
Age	29	29
Dwelling Place	Irk Street, Invercargill	Gladstone, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/6010
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. James O'Malley

121

10 July 1908

James Watt
Alice Ethel Morphy

James Watt
Alice Emily Morphy
💍 1908/7282

Batchelor
Spinster

Draper
Domestic

29
25

Irk Street, Invercargill
Castle Street, Dunedin

4 months
3 days

Knox Church, George Street, Dunedin

08/5893

10 July 1908

Rev. William Hewitson

No	121
Date of Notice	10 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Watt	Alice Ethel Morphy
BDM Match (89%)	James Watt	Alice Emily Morphy
	💍 1908/7282
Condition	Batchelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Domestic
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Irk Street, Invercargill	Castle Street, Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Knox Church, George Street, Dunedin
Folio	08/5893
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Hewitson

122

14 July 1908

Arthur Albert Wright
Ellen McDonald Cameron

Arthur Albert Wright
Ellen McDonald Cameron
💍 1908/7369

Batchelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

36
35

Rimu, Southland
Rimu, Southland

3 days
6 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

08/5980

14 July 1908

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	122
Date of Notice	14 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Albert Wright	Ellen McDonald Cameron
	💍 1908/7369
Condition	Batchelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	36	35
Dwelling Place	Rimu, Southland	Rimu, Southland
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	08/5980
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 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).