Intentions to Marry, 1910 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840444, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1910 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1910a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1910b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1910c).

Page 570

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1910

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

25 January 1910

Henry Robert Perriam
Helen Weld

Henry Robert Perriam
Helen Welsh
💍 1910/1718

Bachelor
Spinster

Carthorler
Domestic

27
24

Eye St, Invercargill
Gorge Road, Invercargill

2 years
11 years

Residence of John Weld, Gorge Road, Invercargill

10/1794

25 January 1910

Rev. N. N. Ryburn

No	13
Date of Notice	25 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Robert Perriam	Helen Weld
BDM Match (91%)	Henry Robert Perriam	Helen Welsh
	💍 1910/1718
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carthorler	Domestic
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Eye St, Invercargill	Gorge Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Weld, Gorge Road, Invercargill
Folio	10/1794
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. N. N. Ryburn

29 January 1910

Albert Alexander Hinderson
Eliza Vincent Cochran

Albert Alexander Henderson
Eliza Vincent Cochrane
💍 1910/1716

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

25
25

Otautau, Invercargill
Otautau, Invercargill

25 years
20 years

Residence of William Henry Cochran, Otautau

10/1792

29 January 1910

Rev. W. H. Beeston

No	14
Date of Notice	29 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Alexander Hinderson	Eliza Vincent Cochran
BDM Match (96%)	Albert Alexander Henderson	Eliza Vincent Cochrane
	💍 1910/1716
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Otautau, Invercargill	Otautau, Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Henry Cochran, Otautau
Folio	10/1792
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Beeston

29 January 1910

James Leaver Thom
Kathleen Jane Fordyce

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

43
24

Awarua Plains, Invercargill
Awarua Plains, Invercargill

1 year
9 years

English Church, Tay St, Invercargill

10/1795

29 January 1910

Rev. Archdeacon Stocker

No	15
Date of Notice	29 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Leaver Thom	Kathleen Jane Fordyce
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	43	24
Dwelling Place	Awarua Plains, Invercargill	Awarua Plains, Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 year	9 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay St, Invercargill
Folio	10/1795
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Archdeacon Stocker

31 January 1910

Charles Simon Ross
Julia Grace Eiffe

Charles Simon Ross
Julia Grace Griffen
💍 1910/1699

Bachelor
Widow

Photographer
Domestic

45
45

Tay St, Invercargill
Inglewood, Invercargill

45 years
15 years

Residence of Julia Grace Eiffe, Inglewood, Invercargill

10/1798

31 January 1910

Rev. W. Laycock

No	16
Date of Notice	31 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Simon Ross	Julia Grace Eiffe
BDM Match (92%)	Charles Simon Ross	Julia Grace Griffen
	💍 1910/1699
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Photographer	Domestic
Age	45	45
Dwelling Place	Tay St, Invercargill	Inglewood, Invercargill
Length of Residence	45 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Julia Grace Eiffe, Inglewood, Invercargill
Folio	10/1798
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Laycock

31 January 1910

Laurits Andersen Birch
Jane Somerton

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic

33
25

Dee St, Invercargill
Leader St, Invercargill

3 days
10 days

Residence of Thomas August, Leader St, Invercargill

10/1786

31 January 1910

Rev. J. Lindsay

No	17
Date of Notice	31 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Laurits Andersen Birch	Jane Somerton
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Dee St, Invercargill	Leader St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	10 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Thomas August, Leader St, Invercargill
Folio	10/1786
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Lindsay

2 February 1910

Albert Edward Geernil
Annie Jose

Albert Edward Gurnit
Annie Jose
💍 1910/2075

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

26
18

Tay St, Invercargill
Gala St, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

English Church, Tay St, Invercargill

10/1796

Stephen McArthur, father of bride

2 February 1910

Rev. Archdeacon Stocker

No	18
Date of Notice	2 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Geernil	Annie Jose
BDM Match (93%)	Albert Edward Gurnit	Annie Jose
	💍 1910/2075
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	26	18
Dwelling Place	Tay St, Invercargill	Gala St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay St, Invercargill
Folio	10/1796
Consent	Stephen McArthur, father of bride
Date of Certificate	2 February 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. 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).