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 584

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

6 May 1908

William John Glenn Anderson
Flora Jane Boyd

William John Glenn Anderson
Flora Jane Boyd
💍 1908/5515

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

32
21

Bowmont Street, Invercargill
Bowmont Street, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Residence of Donald Boyd, Bowmont Street, Invercargill

08/4053

6 May 1908

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	86
Date of Notice	6 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Glenn Anderson	Flora Jane Boyd
	💍 1908/5515
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Bowmont Street, Invercargill	Bowmont Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Donald Boyd, Bowmont Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/4053
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

6 May 1908

William Farnie Bagley
Mary Gilchrist

William Farnie
Mary Bagley Gilchrist
💍 1908/5516

Bachelor
Spinster

House Decorator
School Teacher

38
34

Tay Street, Invercargill
Forth Street, Invercargill

3 years
2 years

Residence of Wm. Geo. Gilchrist, Tay Street, Invercargill

08/4054

6 May 1908

Rev. R. Ferguson

No	87
Date of Notice	6 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Farnie Bagley	Mary Gilchrist
BDM Match (67%)	William Farnie	Mary Bagley Gilchrist
	💍 1908/5516
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	House Decorator	School Teacher
Age	38	34
Dwelling Place	Tay Street, Invercargill	Forth Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Wm. Geo. Gilchrist, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/4054
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ferguson

7 May 1908

James Brockland Widdison
Minnie Cockburn

James Broockland
Minnie Cockburn
💍 1908/5527

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Domestic

30
18

Brinan Street, Invercargill
Brinan Street, Invercargill

7 days
7 days

Residence of Rev. J. W. Dunlop, Brinan Street, Invercargill

08/4041

Mary Widdison, mother

7 May 1908

Rev. J. W. Dunlop

No	88
Date of Notice	7 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Brockland Widdison	Minnie Cockburn
BDM Match (79%)	James Broockland	Minnie Cockburn
	💍 1908/5527
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Domestic
Age	30	18
Dwelling Place	Brinan Street, Invercargill	Brinan Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 days	7 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. J. W. Dunlop, Brinan Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/4041
Consent	Mary Widdison, mother
Date of Certificate	7 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Dunlop

9 May 1908

James William Nixon
Alice Mary Beer

James William Nixon
Alice Mary Ella Beer
💍 1908/5770

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic

24
20

South, Invercargill
South, Invercargill

14 years
2 years

Residence of Jeremiah Walker Nixon, Liddel Street, Invercargill

08/4302

Josiah Albert Beer, father

9 May 1908

Rev. J. A. Ryburn

No	89
Date of Notice	9 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Nixon	Alice Mary Beer
BDM Match (88%)	James William Nixon	Alice Mary Ella Beer
	💍 1908/5770
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	South, Invercargill	South, Invercargill
Length of Residence	14 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Jeremiah Walker Nixon, Liddel Street, Invercargill
Folio	08/4302
Consent	Josiah Albert Beer, father
Date of Certificate	9 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Ryburn

12 May 1908

William Edward Ivison
Marian Allen Shepherd

William Edward Troon
Marian Allen Shepherd
💍 1908/5762

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Domestic

23
26

South, Invercargill
South, Invercargill

3 days
3 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, South Invercargill

08/4301

12 May 1908

Rev. J. A. Ryburn

No	90
Date of Notice	12 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edward Ivison	Marian Allen Shepherd
BDM Match (91%)	William Edward Troon	Marian Allen Shepherd
	💍 1908/5762
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	South, Invercargill	South, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, South Invercargill
Folio	08/4301
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Ryburn

19 May 1908

John Lyons
Violet May Porthouse

John Lyons
Violet May Porthous
💍 1908/3683

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

23
19

Catherine Street, Invercargill
Grasmere, Invercargill

23 years
2 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

08/4024

Harriet Milne, mother

19 May 1908

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	91
Date of Notice	19 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lyons	Violet May Porthouse
BDM Match (98%)	John Lyons	Violet May Porthous
	💍 1908/3683
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Catherine Street, Invercargill	Grasmere, Invercargill
Length of Residence	23 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	08/4024
Consent	Harriet Milne, mother
Date of Certificate	19 May 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).