Intentions to Marry, 1911 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840447, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1911 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, (1911a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1911b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1911c).

Page 607

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1911 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

24 January 1911

Robert Young
Barbara Stevens

Robert Young
Barbara Steans
💍 1911/8910

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

29
21

Waianewa, Invercargill
Waianewa, Invercargill

29 years
21 years

Presbyterian Church, Waianewa, Invercargill

11/4015

24 January 1911

Reverend A D Kirkland

No	13
Date of Notice	24 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Young	Barbara Stevens
BDM Match (93%)	Robert Young	Barbara Steans
	💍 1911/8910
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Waianewa, Invercargill	Waianewa, Invercargill
Length of Residence	29 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Waianewa, Invercargill
Folio	11/4015
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Reverend A D Kirkland

30 January 1911

John Burke
Annie Duff Morrison

John Burke
Annie Duff Morrison
💍 1911/2122

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

30
20

Tweed Street, Invercargill
Tweed Street, Invercargill

7 days
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

11/1708

Elizabeth Morrison, Mother

30 January 1911

Very Reverend C Burke

No	14
Date of Notice	30 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Burke	Annie Duff Morrison
	💍 1911/2122
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Tweed Street, Invercargill	Tweed Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/1708
Consent	Elizabeth Morrison, Mother
Date of Certificate	30 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Very Reverend C Burke

31 January 1911

Alison James Clinton Ackers
Ada Garrow

Oliver James Clinton Ackers
Ada Gerron
💍 1911/5339

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic

28
27

Ritchie Street, Invercargill
Leven Street, Invercargill

8 years
27 years

English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

11/3957

31 January 1911

Venerable Archdeacon Stocker

No	15
Date of Notice	31 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alison James Clinton Ackers	Ada Garrow
BDM Match (83%)	Oliver James Clinton Ackers	Ada Gerron
	💍 1911/5339
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Ritchie Street, Invercargill	Leven Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 years	27 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/3957
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Venerable Archdeacon Stocker

31 January 1911

Charles Clifford Ellwood
Kathleen Mary Groom

Charles Clifford Selwood
Kathleen Mary Groves
💍 1911/2121

Bachelor
Spinster

Bottler
Domestic

23
17

6 Clyde Street, Invercargill
6 Clyde Street, Invercargill

23 years
17 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

11/1707

George Groom, Father

31 January 1911

Reverend T. S. Kavanagh

No	16
Date of Notice	31 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Clifford Ellwood	Kathleen Mary Groom
BDM Match (88%)	Charles Clifford Selwood	Kathleen Mary Groves
	💍 1911/2121
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bottler	Domestic
Age	23	17
Dwelling Place	6 Clyde Street, Invercargill	6 Clyde Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	23 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/1707
Consent	George Groom, Father
Date of Certificate	31 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Reverend T. S. Kavanagh

1 February 1911

Sydney Gordon Donaldson
Catherine Fraser

Sydney Gordon Donaldson
Catherine Frago
💍 1911/2158

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Cleaner
Domestic

19
19

Clyde Street, Invercargill
Tyne Street, Invercargill

6 months
2 months

Residence of Robert Donaldson, Tyne Street, Invercargill

11/1587

John Gordon Donaldson, Father; Catherine Fraser, Mother

1 February 1911

Reverend W Laycock

No	17
Date of Notice	1 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Gordon Donaldson	Catherine Fraser
BDM Match (91%)	Sydney Gordon Donaldson	Catherine Frago
	💍 1911/2158
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Cleaner	Domestic
Age	19	19
Dwelling Place	Clyde Street, Invercargill	Tyne Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	6 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Robert Donaldson, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/1587
Consent	John Gordon Donaldson, Father; Catherine Fraser, Mother
Date of Certificate	1 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Reverend W Laycock

2 February 1911

Angus Sutherland
Sarah Randall

Angus Sutherland
Sarah Rendall
💍 1911/422

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic

33
22

Leet Street, Invercargill
Leet Street, Invercargill

4 days
4 days

Residence of Mary Ann Randall, Esk Street, Invercargill

11/1619

2 February 1911

Reverend Geo Lindsay

No	18
Date of Notice	2 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Angus Sutherland	Sarah Randall
BDM Match (96%)	Angus Sutherland	Sarah Rendall
	💍 1911/422
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Leet Street, Invercargill	Leet Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mary Ann Randall, Esk Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/1619
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Reverend Geo Lindsay

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).