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 591

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 1910 Registrar John Gaunson Petrie

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

116

13 July 1910

Richard John Walles
Barbara Inama Walles

Bachelor
Spinster

Wool buyer
Domestic

22
20

Dee St, Invercargill
Ettrick St, Invercargill

3 days
6 days

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

10/5265

Barbara Inama Mother

13 July 1910

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	116
Date of Notice	13 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard John Walles	Barbara Inama Walles
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wool buyer	Domestic
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Dee St, Invercargill	Ettrick St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	6 days
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	10/5265
Consent	Barbara Inama Mother
Date of Certificate	13 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

117

19 July 1910

James Innes Green
Elizabeth Brown Butler

James Munro
Elizabeth Brown Butler
💍 1910/5011

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

30
29

Royal Bush, Invercargill
Royal Bush, Invercargill

9 years
29 years

English Church, Invercargill

10/5161

Jocker

19 July 1910

Rev. Jocker

No	117
Date of Notice	19 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Innes Green	Elizabeth Brown Butler
BDM Match (74%)	James Munro	Elizabeth Brown Butler
	💍 1910/5011
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Royal Bush, Invercargill	Royal Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	9 years	29 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Invercargill
Folio	10/5161
Consent	Jocker
Date of Certificate	19 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jocker

118

19 July 1910

Samuel Hillis Balneaves
Olive Adelaide Balneaves

Samuel Hillis
Olive Adelaide Balneaves
💍 1910/4997

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

29
23

Myross Bush, Invercargill
Myross Bush, Invercargill

3 years
7 years

Residence of James Balneaves, Myross Bush, Invercargill

10/5172

J. Cumming

19 July 1910

Rev. J. Cumming

No	118
Date of Notice	19 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Hillis Balneaves	Olive Adelaide Balneaves
BDM Match (78%)	Samuel Hillis	Olive Adelaide Balneaves
	💍 1910/4997
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Myross Bush, Invercargill	Myross Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James Balneaves, Myross Bush, Invercargill
Folio	10/5172
Consent	J. Cumming
Date of Certificate	19 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cumming

119

20 July 1910

Charles Christie Ferguson
Kate Meilena Ferguson

Charles Christie
Kate Neilina Ferguson
💍 1910/4960

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Nurse

35
33

Dee St, Invercargill
Grace St, Invercargill

3 days
9 months

Residence of George Francis, Invercargill

10/5186

Geo. Sandrey

20 July 1910

Rev. Geo. Sandrey

No	119
Date of Notice	20 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Christie Ferguson	Kate Meilena Ferguson
BDM Match (77%)	Charles Christie	Kate Neilina Ferguson
	💍 1910/4960
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	35	33
Dwelling Place	Dee St, Invercargill	Grace St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	9 months
Marriage Place	Residence of George Francis, Invercargill
Folio	10/5186
Consent	Geo. Sandrey
Date of Certificate	20 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Geo. Sandrey

120

22 July 1910

John Crombie Hardman
Margaret Winifred Hardman

John Brosnan
Margaret Winifred Hardman
💍 1910/5031

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

30
22

Ettrick St, Invercargill
Ettrick St, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill

10/5209

W. Burke

22 July 1910

Very Rev. W. Burke

No	120
Date of Notice	22 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Crombie Hardman	Margaret Winifred Hardman
BDM Match (73%)	John Brosnan	Margaret Winifred Hardman
	💍 1910/5031
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Ettrick St, Invercargill	Ettrick St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill
Folio	10/5209
Consent	W. Burke
Date of Certificate	22 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burke

121

25 July 1910

John Henry Knowler
Helena Gilchrist-Scott

John Henry Hedges Knowles
Helena Gilchrist Scott
💍 1910/5012

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

24
26

Richmond Grove, Invercargill
Richmond Grove, Invercargill

3 years
3 days

English Church, Invercargill

10/5162

W. Upshill

25 July 1910

Rev. W. Upshill

No	121
Date of Notice	25 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Knowler	Helena Gilchrist-Scott
BDM Match (82%)	John Henry Hedges Knowles	Helena Gilchrist Scott
	💍 1910/5012
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Richmond Grove, Invercargill	Richmond Grove, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	3 days
Marriage Place	English Church, Invercargill
Folio	10/5162
Consent	W. Upshill
Date of Certificate	25 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Upshill

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).