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 607

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 December 1908

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

184

14 November 1908

Thomas William Connor
Mabel Ward

Thomas William O'Connor
Mabel Ward
💍 1908/3263

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller
Domestic

26
22

Taye Street, Invercargill
South, Invercargill

3 days
22 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

08/8086

14 November 1908

Very Rev. Dean Burke

No	184
Date of Notice	14 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Connor	Mabel Ward
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas William O'Connor	Mabel Ward
	💍 1908/3263
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Domestic
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Taye Street, Invercargill	South, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/8086
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Burke

185

16 November 1908

Thomas Cahill
Florence Hughes

Thomas Cahill
Florence Hughes
💍 1908/3616

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dressmaker

45
33

Don Street, Invercargill
Earn Street, Invercargill

1 year
33 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

08/8087

16 November 1908

Very Rev. Dean Burke

No	185
Date of Notice	16 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Cahill	Florence Hughes
	💍 1908/3616
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	45	33
Dwelling Place	Don Street, Invercargill	Earn Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 year	33 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/8087
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Burke

186

17 November 1908

Albert William Jones
Jane Mary Ann Creamer

Albert William Jones
Jane Mary Ann Creamer
💍 1908/3288

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

22
19

Woodend, Invercargill
Woodend, Invercargill

3 days
19 years

Residence of Henry Creamer, Woodend, Invercargill

08/8112

Henry Creamer (Father)

17 November 1908

Rev. J. A. Pybus

No	186
Date of Notice	17 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert William Jones	Jane Mary Ann Creamer
	💍 1908/3288
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Woodend, Invercargill	Woodend, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Henry Creamer, Woodend, Invercargill
Folio	08/8112
Consent	Henry Creamer (Father)
Date of Certificate	17 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Pybus

187

21 November 1908

Henry William Dobbie
Mary Elizabeth Hall

Henry William Dobbie
Mary Elizabeth Hall
💍 1908/3275

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Dressmaker

27
26

159 Esk Street, Invercargill
222 Spey Street, Invercargill

10 years
21 years

Residence of Rev. G. Lindsay, Kelvin Street, Invercargill

08/8100

21 November 1908

Rev. George Lindsay

No	187
Date of Notice	21 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Dobbie	Mary Elizabeth Hall
	💍 1908/3275
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Dressmaker
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	159 Esk Street, Invercargill	222 Spey Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	10 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. G. Lindsay, Kelvin Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/8100
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Lindsay

188

24 November 1908

Frederick William Piper
Sarah Fullarton Campbell

Frederick William Piper
Sarah Fullarton Campbell
💍 1908/3296

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver, N.Z.R.
Domestic

26
29

Invercargill
Tiviot Street, Invercargill

3 days
3 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, Invercargill

08/8113

24 November 1908

Rev. J. A. Pybus

No	188
Date of Notice	24 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Piper	Sarah Fullarton Campbell
	💍 1908/3296
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver, N.Z.R.	Domestic
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Tiviot Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, Invercargill
Folio	08/8113
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Pybus

189

25 November 1908

Henry Hamilton
Annie Catherine Gill

Henry Hamilton
Annie Catharine Gill
💍 1908/3262

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter, N.Z.R.
Domestic

22
19

141 Tiviot Street, Invercargill
Makarewa, Invercargill

22 years
19 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Don Street, Invercargill

08/8085

Edward Gill (Father)

25 November 1908

Rev. R. Raine

No	189
Date of Notice	25 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hamilton	Annie Catherine Gill
BDM Match (98%)	Henry Hamilton	Annie Catharine Gill
	💍 1908/3262
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter, N.Z.R.	Domestic
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	141 Tiviot Street, Invercargill	Makarewa, Invercargill
Length of Residence	22 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Don Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/8085
Consent	Edward Gill (Father)
Date of Certificate	25 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Raine

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).