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 633

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 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

156

25 August 1911

George Carmichael
Elizabeth Ann Anderson

George Carmichael
Elizabeth Ann Anderson
💍 1911/8520

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

35
26

Gummie Road, Riverton
Wright's Road, Invercargill

35 years
13 years

Residence of George Anderson, Allendale, Wright's Road, Invercargill

11/8604

25 August 1911

Rev. Jas. Morland

No	156
Date of Notice	25 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Carmichael	Elizabeth Ann Anderson
	💍 1911/8520
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	35	26
Dwelling Place	Gummie Road, Riverton	Wright's Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	35 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Residence of George Anderson, Allendale, Wright's Road, Invercargill
Folio	11/8604
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Morland

157

25 August 1911

John Larner
Catherine Wallace

John Lester
Catherine Agatha Watson
💍 1911/6139

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

38
38

Wallace Town, Invercargill
Wallace Town, Invercargill

18 years
18 years

Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

Not Solemnised, see attached

25 August 1911

Rev. B. Murphy

No	157
Date of Notice	25 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Larner	Catherine Wallace
BDM Match (62%)	John Lester	Catherine Agatha Watson
	💍 1911/6139
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	38	38
Dwelling Place	Wallace Town, Invercargill	Wallace Town, Invercargill
Length of Residence	18 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	Not Solemnised, see attached
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Murphy

158

28 August 1911

John Richmond Perber
Catherine King

John Richmond Derbie
Catherine King
💍 1911/7143

Bachelor
Spinster

Ratter
Domestic

30
30

Leven Street, Invercargill
Kew, Invercargill

30 years
30 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

11/7205

28 August 1911

Very Rev. Fr. Burke

No	158
Date of Notice	28 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Richmond Perber	Catherine King
BDM Match (93%)	John Richmond Derbie	Catherine King
	💍 1911/7143
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ratter	Domestic
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Leven Street, Invercargill	Kew, Invercargill
Length of Residence	30 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/7205
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Fr. Burke

159

28 August 1911

Andrew Nicoll Aighton
Catherine Sinclair

Andrew Nicoll Brighton
Catherine McLeod Sinclair
💍 1911/5630

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic

30
23

Fox Street, Invercargill
Dunedin

11 years
3 years

Residence of Andrew Sinclair, 80 Cumberland Street, Dunedin

11/5445

28 August 1911

Rev. Ralph Ebbett

No	159
Date of Notice	28 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Nicoll Aighton	Catherine Sinclair
BDM Match (81%)	Andrew Nicoll Brighton	Catherine McLeod Sinclair
	💍 1911/5630
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Fox Street, Invercargill	Dunedin
Length of Residence	11 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Andrew Sinclair, 80 Cumberland Street, Dunedin
Folio	11/5445
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Ralph Ebbett

160

31 August 1911

Richard Munro
Ethel May Grinths

Richard Munro
Ethel May Fisher
💍 1911/4694

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

28
19

Koputua, Invercargill
Koputua, Invercargill

28 years
19 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

11/4492

31 August 1911

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	160
Date of Notice	31 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Munro	Ethel May Grinths
BDM Match (82%)	Richard Munro	Ethel May Fisher
	💍 1911/4694
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	28	19
Dwelling Place	Koputua, Invercargill	Koputua, Invercargill
Length of Residence	28 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	11/4492
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

161

2 September 1911

Owen Fahy
Mary Ford

Owen Fahey
Mary Forde
💍 1911/7144

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

30
37

Conon Street, Invercargill
Rakahouka, Invercargill

2 months
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

11/7206

2 September 1911

Very Rev. Fr. Burke

No	161
Date of Notice	2 September 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Owen Fahy	Mary Ford
BDM Match (90%)	Owen Fahey	Mary Forde
	💍 1911/7144
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	30	37
Dwelling Place	Conon Street, Invercargill	Rakahouka, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/7206
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1911
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Fr. Burke

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).