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 793

District of Riverton Quarter ending 30 June 1911 Registrar D. Philips

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

837

4 April 1911

Arthur Williamson Clark
Mary McNeill

Arthur Williamson Clark
Mary McNeill
💍 1911/3948

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

32
24

Wright's Bush
Thornbury

6 years
24 years

Residence of Peter McNeill, Invercargill

11/3561

4 April 1911

Rev. H. H. Parker

No	837
Date of Notice	4 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Williamson Clark	Mary McNeill
	💍 1911/3948
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Wright's Bush	Thornbury
Length of Residence	6 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Peter McNeill, Invercargill
Folio	11/3561
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. H. Parker

838

13 April 1911

Nathaniel Wilkinson
Elsie Elizabeth Greer

Nathaniel Wilkinson
Elsie Elizabeth Greer
💍 1911/3949

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill Hand
Domestic Duties

28
24

Longwood
Riverton, South Riverton

2 years
24 years

Residence of Richard Greer, South Riverton

11/3562

13 April 1911

Rev. W. J. Hooper

No	838
Date of Notice	13 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nathaniel Wilkinson	Elsie Elizabeth Greer
	💍 1911/3949
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill Hand	Domestic Duties
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Longwood	Riverton, South Riverton
Length of Residence	2 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Richard Greer, South Riverton
Folio	11/3562
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Hooper

839

19 April 1911

Charles Thos. Gray
Grace Ferries

Charles Thomas Gray
Grace Ferrier
💍 1911/3912

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Duties

31
19

Riverton
Riverton

3 years
3 years

Residence of Alexr. Ferries, Riverton

11/3643

Alexr. Ferries, father

19 April 1911

Rev. C. A. Gray

No	839
Date of Notice	19 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Thos. Gray	Grace Ferries
BDM Match (88%)	Charles Thomas Gray	Grace Ferrier
	💍 1911/3912
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Duties
Age	31	19
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Alexr. Ferries, Riverton
Folio	11/3643
Consent	Alexr. Ferries, father
Date of Certificate	19 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Gray

840

21 April 1911

James O'Brien
Margaret Cavanagh

James O'Brien
Margaret Cavanagh
💍 1911/4385

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotelkeeper
Domestic Duties

41
39

Round Hill
Invercargill

6 months
3 months

Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill

11/4151

21 April 1911

Rev. F. Cavanagh

No	840
Date of Notice	21 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James O'Brien	Margaret Cavanagh
	💍 1911/4385
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotelkeeper	Domestic Duties
Age	41	39
Dwelling Place	Round Hill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	6 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill
Folio	11/4151
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Cavanagh

841

2 May 1911

Thomas Oswald McGill
Mary Jukes

Thomas Oswald McGill
Mary Jukes
💍 1911/3865

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic Duties

32
21

Invercargill
Waimatuku

25 years
21 years

Presbyterian Church, Invercargill

11/3596

2 May 1911

Rev. Jas. Baird

No	841
Date of Notice	2 May 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Oswald McGill	Mary Jukes
	💍 1911/3865
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic Duties
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Waimatuku
Length of Residence	25 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Invercargill
Folio	11/3596
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 May 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Baird

842

13 May 1911

Silas Leslie Reer
Martha Louisa Morley

Silas Leslie Beer
Martha Louise Morley
💍 1911/7037

Bachelor
Spinster

Foreman
Domestic Duties

30
36

Riverton
Mandeville

30 years
2 months

Church of England, Gore

11/6300

13 May 1911

Rev. A. Wingfield

No	842
Date of Notice	13 May 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Silas Leslie Reer	Martha Louisa Morley
BDM Match (95%)	Silas Leslie Beer	Martha Louise Morley
	💍 1911/7037
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Foreman	Domestic Duties
Age	30	36
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Mandeville
Length of Residence	30 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Gore
Folio	11/6300
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 May 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Wingfield

843

22 May 1911

Frederick Arthur Bromby
Elizabeth Haylock

William Arthur Bromby
Elizabeth Havelock
💍 1911/2410

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Domestic Duties

26
20

Riverton
Riverton

16 years
5 years

Office of the Registrar, Riverton

11/2112

(Nobody)

6 June 1911

D. Philips, Registrar

No	843
Date of Notice	22 May 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Arthur Bromby	Elizabeth Haylock
BDM Match (77%)	William Arthur Bromby	Elizabeth Havelock
	💍 1911/2410
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Domestic Duties
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	16 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Riverton
Folio	11/2112
Consent	(Nobody)
Date of Certificate	6 June 1911
Officiating Minister	D. Philips, Registrar

844

27 May 1911

James Pont
Edith Jane Hibbs

James Pont
Edith Jane Hibbs
💍 1911/8880

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Domestic Duties

35
25

Colac Bay
Colac Bay

30 years
3 months

Presbyterian Church, Colac Bay

11/3835

27 May 1911

Rev. G. D. Falconer

No	844
Date of Notice	27 May 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Pont	Edith Jane Hibbs
	💍 1911/8880
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Domestic Duties
Age	35	25
Dwelling Place	Colac Bay	Colac Bay
Length of Residence	30 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Colac Bay
Folio	11/3835
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. D. Falconer

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).