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 596

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

139

24 August 1908

Maurice Philip Kippenberger
Selina May Warren

Maurice Philip Kipponberger
Selina May Warren
💍 1908/7424

Batchelor
Spinster

Painter
Tailoress

21
21

Esk Street, Invercargill
Esk Street, Invercargill

8 months
7 months

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

08/6014

24 August 1908

Very Rev. Dean Burke

No	139
Date of Notice	24 August 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Maurice Philip Kippenberger	Selina May Warren
BDM Match (98%)	Maurice Philip Kipponberger	Selina May Warren
	💍 1908/7424
Condition	Batchelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Tailoress
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Esk Street, Invercargill	Esk Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 months	7 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/6014
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 August 1908
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Burke

140

24 August 1908

John Robbie
Christina Hendry Philips

John Robbie
Christina Hendry Philips
💍 1908/7383

Batchelor
Spinster

Cheesemaker
School-teacher

23
25

St Andrew Street North, Invercargill
Spey Street, Invercargill

4 days
6 weeks

Residence of Mr E. B. Pilcher, Spey Street, Invercargill

08/5996

24 August 1908

Rev. George Lindsay

No	140
Date of Notice	24 August 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Robbie	Christina Hendry Philips
	💍 1908/7383
Condition	Batchelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheesemaker	School-teacher
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	St Andrew Street North, Invercargill	Spey Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr E. B. Pilcher, Spey Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/5996
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 August 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Lindsay

141

28 August 1908

Radly Ethelbert Masterman Gibson
Maud Mary Gillan

Eadly Ethelbert Masterman Gibson
Maud Mary Gillan
💍 1908/7406

Batchelor
Spinster

Gaol Warder
Domestic

24
22

Spey Street, Invercargill
Leet Street, Invercargill

15 months
3 days

Wesleyan Church, Leet Street, Invercargill

08/6020

28 August 1908

Rev. A. Mitchell

No	141
Date of Notice	28 August 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Radly Ethelbert Masterman Gibson	Maud Mary Gillan
BDM Match (98%)	Eadly Ethelbert Masterman Gibson	Maud Mary Gillan
	💍 1908/7406
Condition	Batchelor	Spinster
Profession	Gaol Warder	Domestic
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Spey Street, Invercargill	Leet Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	15 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Leet Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/6020
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Mitchell

142

31 August 1908

James Black
Elizabeth Nelson Thaws

James Black
Elizabeth Nelson Flause
💍 1908/7384

James Black
Elizabeth Emma Porteous
💍 1908/7617

James Black
Janet Service
💍 1908/7485

Widower
Spinster

Sergeant of Police
House-keeper

49
32

Tay Street, Invercargill
Tay Street, Invercargill

4 years
32 years

First Church Manse, Tay Street, Invercargill

08/5997

31 August 1908

Rev. Robert Ferguson

No	142
Date of Notice	31 August 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Black	Elizabeth Nelson Thaws
BDM Match (91%)	James Black	Elizabeth Nelson Flause
	💍 1908/7384
BDM Match (74%)	James Black	Elizabeth Emma Porteous
	💍 1908/7617
BDM Match (61%)	James Black	Janet Service
	💍 1908/7485
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Sergeant of Police	House-keeper
Age	49	32
Dwelling Place	Tay Street, Invercargill	Tay Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	32 years
Marriage Place	First Church Manse, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/5997
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Ferguson

143

1 September 1908

Charles Fry
Annie Mackintosh

Charles Fry
Annie Mackintosh
💍 1908/7370

Batchelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

36
46

Tweed Street, Invercargill
Esk Street, Invercargill

1 month
3 weeks

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

08/5981

1 September 1908

Registrar of Marriages

No	143
Date of Notice	1 September 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Fry	Annie Mackintosh
	💍 1908/7370
Condition	Batchelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	36	46
Dwelling Place	Tweed Street, Invercargill	Esk Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 month	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	08/5981
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 September 1908
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

144

1 September 1908

David John Dalrymple Farnie
Janet Dickie Moir

David John Dalrymple Farnie
Janet Dickie Moir
💍 1908/7385

Batchelor
Spinster

House Decorator
Domestic

33
30

Tay Street, Invercargill
Tweed Street, Invercargill

32 years
4 days

First Church Manse, Tay Street, Invercargill

08/5998

1 September 1908

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	144
Date of Notice	1 September 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David John Dalrymple Farnie	Janet Dickie Moir
	💍 1908/7385
Condition	Batchelor	Spinster
Profession	House Decorator	Domestic
Age	33	30
Dwelling Place	Tay Street, Invercargill	Tweed Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	32 years	4 days
Marriage Place	First Church Manse, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/5998
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 September 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

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).