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 625

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

120

10 June 1911

Educ Duncan
Isabella Victoria Young

Edric Duncan Drummond Miller
Isabella Victoria Young
💍 1911/3683

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Telegraph Cadet

27
24

Clyde Street, Invercargill
Livit Street, Invercargill

3 years
24 years

Residence of Mary Murdoch, Clyde Street, Invercargill

11/3388

12 June 1911

Rev. J. A. M. Ryburn

No	120
Date of Notice	10 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Educ Duncan	Isabella Victoria Young
BDM Match (68%)	Edric Duncan Drummond Miller	Isabella Victoria Young
	💍 1911/3683
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Telegraph Cadet
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Clyde Street, Invercargill	Livit Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mary Murdoch, Clyde Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/3388
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. M. Ryburn

121

13 June 1911

Matthew Henry Bennett
Amelia Elizabeth Kinnell

Matthew Henry Bennett
Amelia Elizabeth Kissell
💍 1911/3743

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

19
21

George Street, Invercargill
George Street, Invercargill

7 days
20 years

English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

11/3448

Mother

13 June 1911

Rev. J. Crocker

No	121
Date of Notice	13 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Henry Bennett	Amelia Elizabeth Kinnell
BDM Match (96%)	Matthew Henry Bennett	Amelia Elizabeth Kissell
	💍 1911/3743
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	19	21
Dwelling Place	George Street, Invercargill	George Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 days	20 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/3448
Consent	Mother
Date of Certificate	13 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Crocker

122

16 June 1911

William John Boyce
Lorena Catherine Everett

William John Boyce
Louisa Catherine Everett
💍 1911/4415

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

30
27

Mary Street, Invercargill
Sea Street, Invercargill

30 years
27 years

Residence of Catherine Everett, Sea Street, Invercargill

11/4158

16 June 1911

Rev. W. Grigg

No	122
Date of Notice	16 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Boyce	Lorena Catherine Everett
BDM Match (94%)	William John Boyce	Louisa Catherine Everett
	💍 1911/4415
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Mary Street, Invercargill	Sea Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	30 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Catherine Everett, Sea Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/4158
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Grigg

123

17 June 1911

Harry Wilfred Wright
Martha Rose Bridgman

Harry Wilfred Wright
Martha Rose Constance Bridgman
💍 1911/4253

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

27
23

Mabel Avenue, Invercargill
Mabel Avenue, Invercargill

27 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church, Invercargill

11/3777

17 June 1911

Rev. J. Nicholson

No	123
Date of Notice	17 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Wilfred Wright	Martha Rose Bridgman
BDM Match (83%)	Harry Wilfred Wright	Martha Rose Constance Bridgman
	💍 1911/4253
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Mabel Avenue, Invercargill	Mabel Avenue, Invercargill
Length of Residence	27 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Invercargill
Folio	11/3777
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Nicholson

124

19 June 1911

George William Fraser
Edith Florence Fraser

George William Fraser
Edith Florence Treasure
💍 1911/3682

Bachelor
Spinster

Undertaker
Tailoress

29
28

Kelvin Street, Invercargill
Nelson Street, Invercargill

29 years
18 years

Presbyterian Church, Invercargill

11/3387

19 June 1911

Rev. A. M. Ryburn

No	124
Date of Notice	19 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Fraser	Edith Florence Fraser
BDM Match (91%)	George William Fraser	Edith Florence Treasure
	💍 1911/3682
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Undertaker	Tailoress
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Kelvin Street, Invercargill	Nelson Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	29 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Invercargill
Folio	11/3387
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. M. Ryburn

125

21 June 1911

Edwin John Macklow
Sarah Urquhart

Edwin John Cuckrow
Sarah Urquhart
💍 1911/4270

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic

23
27

James Street, Invercargill
James Street, Invercargill

3 days
10 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Don Street, Invercargill

11/3801

21 June 1911

Rev. W. Laycock

No	125
Date of Notice	21 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin John Macklow	Sarah Urquhart
BDM Match (92%)	Edwin John Cuckrow	Sarah Urquhart
	💍 1911/4270
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic
Age	23	27
Dwelling Place	James Street, Invercargill	James Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Don Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/3801
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Laycock

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).