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 619

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 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

18 April 1911

William Ross
Ethel Stanford Patterson

William Ross
Ethel Stanford Patterson
💍 1911/3665

Bachelor
Spinster

Foundry Labourer
Housekeeper

23
20

Ythan Street, Invercargill
Georgetown, Invercargill

2 years
7 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

11/3394

18 April 1911

Rev. W. T. P. Ryburn

No	84
Date of Notice	18 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ross	Ethel Stanford Patterson
	💍 1911/3665
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Foundry Labourer	Housekeeper
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Ythan Street, Invercargill	Georgetown, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/3394
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. T. P. Ryburn

19 April 1911

Percy Gathrel Robertson
Grace Wallace Spratt

Percy Gatherall Robertson
Grace Wallace
💍 1911/3941

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Domestic

23
23

Lindisfarne, Invercargill
Lindisfarne, Invercargill

3 months
3 years

Residence of George Froggatt, Tay Street, Invercargill

11/3547

19 April 1911

Rev. J. C. Ryburn

No	85
Date of Notice	19 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Gathrel Robertson	Grace Wallace Spratt
BDM Match (77%)	Percy Gatherall Robertson	Grace Wallace
	💍 1911/3941
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Domestic
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Lindisfarne, Invercargill	Lindisfarne, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of George Froggatt, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/3547
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Ryburn

19 April 1911

William Morgan O'Brien
Roseanna O'Brien

William Boyle
Rosie Anna O'Brien
💍 1911/4100

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic

32
22

Lochiel, Invercargill
Lochiel, Invercargill

3 years
12 years

Residence of Morgan O'Brien, Lochiel, Invercargill

11/3838

19 April 1911

Rev. Father O'Neill

No	86
Date of Notice	19 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Morgan O'Brien	Roseanna O'Brien
BDM Match (64%)	William Boyle	Rosie Anna O'Brien
	💍 1911/4100
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Lochiel, Invercargill	Lochiel, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Morgan O'Brien, Lochiel, Invercargill
Folio	11/3838
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father O'Neill

19 April 1911

Francis Joseph Haywood
Nelly Rose Turner

Francis Joseph Taylor Haywood
Nellie Rose Hunter
💍 1911/3728

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

25
20

Catherine Street, Invercargill
Catherine Street, Invercargill

3 years
7 years

Residence of Herbert Haywood, Catherine Street, Invercargill

11/3409

Herbert Haywood, father

19 April 1911

Rev. F. G. Roles

No	87
Date of Notice	19 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Joseph Haywood	Nelly Rose Turner
BDM Match (74%)	Francis Joseph Taylor Haywood	Nellie Rose Hunter
	💍 1911/3728
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Catherine Street, Invercargill	Catherine Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Herbert Haywood, Catherine Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/3409
Consent	Herbert Haywood, father
Date of Certificate	19 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. G. Roles

21 April 1911

James O'Brien
Margaret Kavanagh

Charles Meyers
Margaret Kavanagh
💍 1911/2998

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotelkeeper
Domestic

41
39

Rown Hill, Orepuki
Orepuki Road, Orepuki

2 months
3 months

Roman Catholic Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

11/4151

21 April 1911

Rev. Father Kavanagh

No	88
Date of Notice	21 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James O'Brien	Margaret Kavanagh
BDM Match (61%)	Charles Meyers	Margaret Kavanagh
	💍 1911/2998
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotelkeeper	Domestic
Age	41	39
Dwelling Place	Rown Hill, Orepuki	Orepuki Road, Orepuki
Length of Residence	2 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/4151
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Kavanagh

21 April 1911

Francis George Hawke
Mary Lavinia New

Francis Glossop Hawke
Mary Lavinia Nicol
💍 1911/3825

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

30
20

Dacre, Invercargill
Dacre, Invercargill

2 years
3 years

Residence of F. G. Hawke, Dacre, Invercargill

11/3530

Helen New, mother

21 April 1911

Rev. E. B. Bennett

No	89
Date of Notice	21 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis George Hawke	Mary Lavinia New
BDM Match (77%)	Francis Glossop Hawke	Mary Lavinia Nicol
	💍 1911/3825
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Dacre, Invercargill	Dacre, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of F. G. Hawke, Dacre, Invercargill
Folio	11/3530
Consent	Helen New, mother
Date of Certificate	21 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. B. Bennett

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).