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 589

District of INVERCARGILL Quarter ending 30 June 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

109

12 June 1908

William Martin
Catherine Cameron McGregor Boyd

William Martin
Catherine Cameron McGregor Boyd
💍 1908/5520

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic Duties

24
23

Georgetown, INVERCARGILL
Bowmont Street, INVERCARGILL

24 years
15 years

Residence of Donald Boyd, Bowmont Street, INVERCARGILL

08/4057

12 June 1908

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	109
Date of Notice	12 June 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Martin	Catherine Cameron McGregor Boyd
	💍 1908/5520
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic Duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Georgetown, INVERCARGILL	Bowmont Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	24 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Donald Boyd, Bowmont Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	08/4057
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

110

13 June 1908

Frank Smith
Laura Davis

Frank Smith
Laira Davis
💍 1908/5498

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

35
25

Greenhills, INVERCARGILL
Day Street, INVERCARGILL

3 months
3 months

English Church, Day Street, INVERCARGILL

08/4035

13 June 1908

Ven. Archdeacon Stocther

No	110
Date of Notice	13 June 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Smith	Laura Davis
BDM Match (95%)	Frank Smith	Laira Davis
	💍 1908/5498
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	35	25
Dwelling Place	Greenhills, INVERCARGILL	Day Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	English Church, Day Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	08/4035
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1908
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdeacon Stocther

111

13 June 1908

Martin Metzger
Annie Deer

Martin Metzger
Annie Deer
💍 1908/5521

Widower
Spinster

Gentleman
Domestic

38
24

Dee Street, INVERCARGILL
Oak Street, INVERCARGILL

15 years
24 years

Residence of George Lindsay, Kelvin Street, INVERCARGILL

08/4058

13 June 1908

Rev. Geo Lindsay

No	111
Date of Notice	13 June 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Martin Metzger	Annie Deer
	💍 1908/5521
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman	Domestic
Age	38	24
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, INVERCARGILL	Oak Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	15 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of George Lindsay, Kelvin Street, INVERCARGILL
Folio	08/4058
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo Lindsay

112

16 June 1908

Herbert Edward Hatton
Stella Mitchell Hyndman

Herbert Edward Hatton
Stella Mitchell Hyndman
💍 1908/3612

Bachelor
Spinster

Letter-Carrier
Domestic

21
20

Eye Street, INVERCARGILL
Leet Street, INVERCARGILL

21 years
20 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

08/4031

William James Hyndman, Father

16 June 1908

Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

No	112
Date of Notice	16 June 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Edward Hatton	Stella Mitchell Hyndman
	💍 1908/3612
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Letter-Carrier	Domestic
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Eye Street, INVERCARGILL	Leet Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	21 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL
Folio	08/4031
Consent	William James Hyndman, Father
Date of Certificate	16 June 1908
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

113

22 June 1908

James Phillips
Margaret Bennett

James Phillips
Margaret Bennett
💍 1908/7368

Bachelor
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

No	113
Date of Notice	22 June 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Phillips	Margaret Bennett
	💍 1908/7368
Condition	Bachelor	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
Officiating Minister

114

24 June 1908

George Frederick Jaquery
Phyllis Bhurton

George Frederick Jaquiery
Phyllis Churton
💍 1908/5496

Bachelor
Spinster

Law-clerk
Typist

24
22

Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL
Don Street, INVERCARGILL

20 years
8 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

08/4033

24 June 1908

Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL

No	114
Date of Notice	24 June 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Frederick Jaquery	Phyllis Bhurton
BDM Match (95%)	George Frederick Jaquiery	Phyllis Churton
	💍 1908/5496
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Law-clerk	Typist
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Clyde Street, INVERCARGILL	Don Street, INVERCARGILL
Length of Residence	20 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, INVERCARGILL
Folio	08/4033
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 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).