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 609

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

14 February 1911

Walter McLean
Charlotte Cardine Ingram

Walter McLean
Charlotte Caroline Ingram
💍 1911/1779

Bachelor
Spinster

Presbyterian Minister
School Teacher

28
28

Beaumont Street, Invercargill
Beaumont Street, Invercargill

2 days
18 months

Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, Invercargill

11/1301

14 February 1911

Rev. J. Cumming

No	25
Date of Notice	14 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter McLean	Charlotte Cardine Ingram
BDM Match (96%)	Walter McLean	Charlotte Caroline Ingram
	💍 1911/1779
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Presbyterian Minister	School Teacher
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Beaumont Street, Invercargill	Beaumont Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 days	18 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/1301
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cumming

14 February 1911

Jackson Samuel Thompson
Jean Kida Speden

Martin Samuel Thompson
Jean Kidd
💍 1911/2091

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker
Domestic

21
23

Ritchie Street, Invercargill
Spey Street, Invercargill

10 years
10 years

Residence of Rev. R.M. Ryburn, Spey Street, Invercargill

11/1643

14 February 1911

Rev. R.M. Ryburn

No	26
Date of Notice	14 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jackson Samuel Thompson	Jean Kida Speden
BDM Match (67%)	Martin Samuel Thompson	Jean Kidd
	💍 1911/2091
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker	Domestic
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Ritchie Street, Invercargill	Spey Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	10 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. R.M. Ryburn, Spey Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/1643
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R.M. Ryburn

17 February 1911

Thomas Daniel McKenzie
Helen Isabel Nicol

Thomas Daniel McKenzie
Helen Isabel Nicol
💍 1911/1855

Bachelor
Spinster

Road Contractor
Domestic

22
22

Naimatua, Invercargill
Terbury, Invercargill

25 years
20 years

Residence of Helen Ogilvy Nicol, Terbury

11/1432

17 February 1911

Mr. R. Morgan

No	27
Date of Notice	17 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Daniel McKenzie	Helen Isabel Nicol
	💍 1911/1855
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Road Contractor	Domestic
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Naimatua, Invercargill	Terbury, Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Helen Ogilvy Nicol, Terbury
Folio	11/1432
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Mr. R. Morgan

18 February 1911

William Alexander Brown
Annabell Raeide

William Alexander Brown
Annabell Raeside
💍 1911/421

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller
Shop Assistant

24
23

Beaumont Street, Invercargill
Esk Street, Invercargill

24 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church, Dee Street

11/1618

18 February 1911

Rev. E. Lindsey

No	28
Date of Notice	18 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alexander Brown	Annabell Raeide
BDM Match (97%)	William Alexander Brown	Annabell Raeside
	💍 1911/421
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller	Shop Assistant
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Beaumont Street, Invercargill	Esk Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	24 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Dee Street
Folio	11/1618
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Lindsey

20 February 1911

Sydney Ross Rainer
Evelyn Startle

Sydney Rosal Raines
Evelyn Hartle
💍 1911/2153

Bachelor
Spinster

Foreman, N.Z.R.
Domestic

22
24

Tweed Street, Invercargill
Brunton Street, Invercargill

25 years
20 years

Official Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

11/1582

20 February 1911

Registrar of Marriages

No	29
Date of Notice	20 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Ross Rainer	Evelyn Startle
BDM Match (85%)	Sydney Rosal Raines	Evelyn Hartle
	💍 1911/2153
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Foreman, N.Z.R.	Domestic
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Tweed Street, Invercargill	Brunton Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Official Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	11/1582
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

20 February 1911

William Henry Walton
Muriel Thelma Hutchinson

William Henry Walton
Muriel Philp McHutcheson
💍 1911/2094

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor
Domestic

28
30

Eller Road, Invercargill
Eller Road, Invercargill

3 days
5 years

Residence of William Hutchinson, Eller Road

11/1646

20 February 1911

Rev. R.M. Ryburn

No	30
Date of Notice	20 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Walton	Muriel Thelma Hutchinson
BDM Match (83%)	William Henry Walton	Muriel Philp McHutcheson
	💍 1911/2094
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor	Domestic
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Eller Road, Invercargill	Eller Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William Hutchinson, Eller Road
Folio	11/1646
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R.M. Ryburn

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).