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 638

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 December 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

179

17 October 1911

Ernest Henry White
Lavina Frances Morrison

Ernest Henry White
Lavina Frances Morrison
💍 1911/6543

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

23
18

Tweed St, Invercargill
Tweed St, Invercargill

8 days
18 years

Office of Registrar, Invercargill

11/6562

Elizabeth White, mother

19 October 1911

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	179
Date of Notice	17 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Henry White	Lavina Frances Morrison
	💍 1911/6543
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Tweed St, Invercargill	Tweed St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 days	18 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Invercargill
Folio	11/6562
Consent	Elizabeth White, mother
Date of Certificate	19 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

180

18 October 1911

Bertram Marshall Officer
Catherine McCarthy

Bertram Marshall Officer
Catherine McCarthy
💍 1911/8795

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller
Domestic

21
19

Winton, Southland
Ryal Bush, Invercargill

3 days
2 years

Roman Catholic Church, Winton

11/8784

Michael McCarthy, father

18 October 1911

Rev. O'Neill

No	180
Date of Notice	18 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bertram Marshall Officer	Catherine McCarthy
	💍 1911/8795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Domestic
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Winton, Southland	Ryal Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Winton
Folio	11/8784
Consent	Michael McCarthy, father
Date of Certificate	18 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. O'Neill

181

19 October 1911

David Gardiner McPherson
Isabella Thomson Nellemann

David Gardiner
Isabella Thomson Williamson
💍 1911/7342

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

34
30

Grey St, Invercargill
Grey St, Invercargill

2 weeks
6 months

Presbyterian Church, Tay St, Invercargill

11/7408

19 October 1911

Rev. G. Ryburn

No	181
Date of Notice	19 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Gardiner McPherson	Isabella Thomson Nellemann
BDM Match (68%)	David Gardiner	Isabella Thomson Williamson
	💍 1911/7342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Grey St, Invercargill	Grey St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 weeks	6 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay St, Invercargill
Folio	11/7408
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Ryburn

182

21 October 1911

James Brown Miller
Evelyn Gordon Hoffmann

James Brown
Evelyn Hoffmann
💍 1911/8294

Widower
Spinster

Factory Inspector
Tea Room Proprietress

43
40

182 Elles St, Invercargill
182 Elles St, Invercargill

5 months
3 weeks

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St, Invercargill

11/8313

21 October 1911

Very Rev. W. Burke

No	182
Date of Notice	21 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Brown Miller	Evelyn Gordon Hoffmann
BDM Match (65%)	James Brown	Evelyn Hoffmann
	💍 1911/8294
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Factory Inspector	Tea Room Proprietress
Age	43	40
Dwelling Place	182 Elles St, Invercargill	182 Elles St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 months	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St, Invercargill
Folio	11/8313
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burke

183

21 October 1911

John Lester Harper
Agnes Lena Vincent

John Lester Harper
Agnes Lena Vincent
💍 1911/7513

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic

22
19

Spey St, Invercargill
Don St, Invercargill

25 years
1 year

Presbyterian Church, Don St, Invercargill

11/7403

Thomas Vincent, father

21 October 1911

Rev. W. Archer

No	183
Date of Notice	21 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lester Harper	Agnes Lena Vincent
	💍 1911/7513
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Spey St, Invercargill	Don St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Don St, Invercargill
Folio	11/7403
Consent	Thomas Vincent, father
Date of Certificate	21 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Archer

184

24 October 1911

Thomas Francis Pritchell
Theodora Attley

Thomas Glasson Mitchell
Theresa Attley
💍 1911/8608

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic

26
25

Leven St, Invercargill
South Invercargill

3 days
6 months

Methodist Church, Leven St, Invercargill

11/8677

24 October 1911

Rev. W. Grigg

No	184
Date of Notice	24 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Francis Pritchell	Theodora Attley
BDM Match (70%)	Thomas Glasson Mitchell	Theresa Attley
	💍 1911/8608
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Leven St, Invercargill	South Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Leven St, Invercargill
Folio	11/8677
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Grigg

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).