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 599

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 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

157

18 September 1908

John Treloar
Helen Ann McTaggart

John Treloar
Helen Ann McFadgen Rae
💍 1908/7408

Batchelor
Spinster

Drayman
domestic

29
23

Awarua Plains, Invercargill
Awarua Plains, Invercargill

29 years
3 years

Residence of William Rae, Awarua Plains, Invercargill

08/6022

18 September 1908

Rev. A. Mitchell

No	157
Date of Notice	18 September 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Treloar	Helen Ann McTaggart
BDM Match (82%)	John Treloar	Helen Ann McFadgen Rae
	💍 1908/7408
Condition	Batchelor	Spinster
Profession	Drayman	domestic
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Awarua Plains, Invercargill	Awarua Plains, Invercargill
Length of Residence	29 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Rae, Awarua Plains, Invercargill
Folio	08/6022
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 September 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Mitchell

158

21 September 1908

George Mackey
Ann Coutts Duncan

George MacKey Frobarth
Ann Coutts Duncan
💍 1908/7393

Batchelor
Spinster

cabinet maker
domestic

24
30

Tweed Street, Invercargill
Ritchie Street North, Invercargill

24 years
4 years

Residence of James Duncan, Ritchie Street North, Invercargill

08/6005

21 September 1908

Rev. G. Lindsay

No	158
Date of Notice	21 September 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Mackey	Ann Coutts Duncan
BDM Match (77%)	George MacKey Frobarth	Ann Coutts Duncan
	💍 1908/7393
Condition	Batchelor	Spinster
Profession	cabinet maker	domestic
Age	24	30
Dwelling Place	Tweed Street, Invercargill	Ritchie Street North, Invercargill
Length of Residence	24 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James Duncan, Ritchie Street North, Invercargill
Folio	08/6005
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 September 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Lindsay

159

21 September 1908

Thomas John Meadows
Ann Sample Stewart

Thomas John Meadows
Ann Sample Stewart
💍 1908/7394

Widower
Spinster

Farm manager
Dress-maker

40
24

Mabel Bush, Invercargill
Princess Street North, Invercargill

4 months
26 years

Presbyterian Church, Princess Street North, Invercargill

08/6006

21 September 1908

Rev. G. Lindsay

No	159
Date of Notice	21 September 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas John Meadows	Ann Sample Stewart
	💍 1908/7394
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farm manager	Dress-maker
Age	40	24
Dwelling Place	Mabel Bush, Invercargill	Princess Street North, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 months	26 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Princess Street North, Invercargill
Folio	08/6006
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 September 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Lindsay

160

21 September 1908

Robert Henry O'Kane
Ruby Violet Margaretta Mitchell

Robert Henry OKane
Ruby Violet Margaretta Mitchell
💍 1908/3385

Batchelor
Spinster

Bank clerk
Household duties

25
20

Earn Street, Invercargill
Spey Street, Invercargill

2 years
5 years

Residence of Alfred James Mitchell, Spey Street, Invercargill

08/8210

Alfred James Mitchell (Father)

21 September 1908

Very Rev. Dean Burke

No	160
Date of Notice	21 September 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry O'Kane	Ruby Violet Margaretta Mitchell
BDM Match (97%)	Robert Henry OKane	Ruby Violet Margaretta Mitchell
	💍 1908/3385
Condition	Batchelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank clerk	Household duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Earn Street, Invercargill	Spey Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Alfred James Mitchell, Spey Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/8210
Consent	Alfred James Mitchell (Father)
Date of Certificate	21 September 1908
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Burke

161

22 September 1908

William Duff
Ellen Spencer

William Duff
Ellen Spencer
💍 1908/7400

Widower
Widow

Butcher
Domestic

32
26

Hess Street, Invercargill
Hess Street, Invercargill

1 year
20 years

English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

08/5988

22 September 1908

Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

No	161
Date of Notice	22 September 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Duff	Ellen Spencer
	💍 1908/7400
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Hess Street, Invercargill	Hess Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 year	20 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/5988
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 September 1908
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

162

24 September 1908

Thomas Daniel Lennie
Ellen Margaret Boyce

Thomas Daniel Lennie
Ellen Margaret Boyce
💍 1908/7401

Batchelor
Spinster

Seedsman
Domestic

34
24

Waikivi, Invercargill
Brinan Street, Invercargill

34 years
24 years

English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

08/5989

24 September 1908

Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

No	162
Date of Notice	24 September 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Daniel Lennie	Ellen Margaret Boyce
	💍 1908/7401
Condition	Batchelor	Spinster
Profession	Seedsman	Domestic
Age	34	24
Dwelling Place	Waikivi, Invercargill	Brinan Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	34 years	24 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/5989
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 September 1908
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Stocker

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).