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 569

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 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

15 January 1910

William Cooper
Frances Ann Richards

William Cooper
Frances Ann Richards
💍 1910/1751

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk NZR
Domestic

25
24

Esk St, Invercargill
Riverton, Wallace

2 years
24 years

English Church

10/1882

15 January 1910

Rev. C. H. Moreland

No	7
Date of Notice	15 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Cooper	Frances Ann Richards
	💍 1910/1751
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk NZR	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Esk St, Invercargill	Riverton, Wallace
Length of Residence	2 years	24 years
Marriage Place	English Church
Folio	10/1882
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Moreland

17 January 1910

William Highton
Muriel Augusta Werney

William Highton Whitaker
Muriel Agusta Wesney
💍 1910/1698

Bachelor
Spinster

Teacher
Domestic

28
26

Esk St, Invercargill
Nith St, Invercargill

7 years
26 years

Wesleyan Church

10/1997

17 January 1910

Rev. A. Mitchell

No	8
Date of Notice	17 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Highton	Muriel Augusta Werney
BDM Match (77%)	William Highton Whitaker	Muriel Agusta Wesney
	💍 1910/1698
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teacher	Domestic
Age	28	26
Dwelling Place	Esk St, Invercargill	Nith St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church
Folio	10/1997
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Mitchell

18 January 1910

Henry Sutherland
Mabel Ecker Wishart

Henry Southern
Mabel Esther Belsham
💍 1910/2073

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Domestic

27
23

Ettrick St, Invercargill
Ettrick St, Invercargill

3 days
7 months

English Church

10/1994

18 January 1910

Rev. H. J. Edwards

No	9
Date of Notice	18 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Sutherland	Mabel Ecker Wishart
BDM Match (68%)	Henry Southern	Mabel Esther Belsham
	💍 1910/2073
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Ettrick St, Invercargill	Ettrick St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	7 months
Marriage Place	English Church
Folio	10/1994
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. J. Edwards

21 January 1910

James Paton Dunlops
Hannah Jane Gordon

James Paton Dunlop
Hannah Jane Cowan
💍 1910/5779

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

37
33

Gladstone, Invercargill
Winton, Southland

3 days
20 years

Southland Club

10/1613

21 January 1910

Rev. J. Dave

No	10
Date of Notice	21 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Paton Dunlops	Hannah Jane Gordon
BDM Match (86%)	James Paton Dunlop	Hannah Jane Cowan
	💍 1910/5779
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	37	33
Dwelling Place	Gladstone, Invercargill	Winton, Southland
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Southland Club
Folio	10/1613
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Dave

22 January 1910

Elizabeth Lowery
Thomas Head

Divorced
Spinster

Owner
Railway Surfaceman

38
43

Waikiwi, Invercargill
Waikiwi, Invercargill

3 days
1 day

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

10/1763

22 January 1910

Registrar of Marriages

No	11
Date of Notice	22 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Elizabeth Lowery	Thomas Head
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Owner	Railway Surfaceman
Age	38	43
Dwelling Place	Waikiwi, Invercargill	Waikiwi, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	1 day
Marriage Place	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	10/1763
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

22 January 1910

Frank Ford
Maria Intised Jackson

Frank Forde
Maria Intisel Jackson
💍 1910/1704

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

33
20

Rakahouka, Invercargill
Kennington, Invercargill

19 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St

10/1803

Mother

22 January 1910

Rev. C. O. Burke V.F.

No	12
Date of Notice	22 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Ford	Maria Intised Jackson
BDM Match (93%)	Frank Forde	Maria Intisel Jackson
	💍 1910/1704
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	33	20
Dwelling Place	Rakahouka, Invercargill	Kennington, Invercargill
Length of Residence	19 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St
Folio	10/1803
Consent	Mother
Date of Certificate	22 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. O. Burke V.F.

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).