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 630

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

150

10 August 1911

George Matthew Kevern
Mary May the Baker

George Matthias Kevern
Mary Myrtle Baker
💍 1911/5509

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Platelayer
Milliner

23
19

Dalrymple Road, Invercargill
Lewis Street, Invercargill

4 years
14 months

Residence of John William Baker, Invercargill

11/5340

John William Baker, father

10 August 1911

Rev. M. Arch. Stocker

No	150
Date of Notice	10 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Matthew Kevern	Mary May the Baker
BDM Match (85%)	George Matthias Kevern	Mary Myrtle Baker
	💍 1911/5509
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Platelayer	Milliner
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Dalrymple Road, Invercargill	Lewis Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	14 months
Marriage Place	Residence of John William Baker, Invercargill
Folio	11/5340
Consent	John William Baker, father
Date of Certificate	10 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Arch. Stocker

151

14 August 1911

Robert Henry Midgley
Annie Elizabeth Gordon De Lussee

Robert Henry John Surtglaus
Annie Elizabeth Von De Vusse
💍 1911/4692

Robert Hume Miller
Annie Elizabeth Duncan
💍 1911/7217

Widower
Domestic

Tramlayer
Domestic

65
45

Ann Street, Invercargill
Tay Road, Invercargill

10 days
5 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

11/4490

14 August 1911

Registrar of Marriages

No	151
Date of Notice	14 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Midgley	Annie Elizabeth Gordon De Lussee
BDM Match (68%)	Robert Henry John Surtglaus	Annie Elizabeth Von De Vusse
	💍 1911/4692
BDM Match (61%)	Robert Hume Miller	Annie Elizabeth Duncan
	💍 1911/7217
Condition	Widower	Domestic
Profession	Tramlayer	Domestic
Age	65	45
Dwelling Place	Ann Street, Invercargill	Tay Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	10 days	5 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	11/4490
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

152

14 August 1911

William Munro Paterson
Euphemia Gibb Smith

William Munro
Euphemia Gibbs
💍 1911/5500

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

18
18

Napier, Invercargill
Stirling, Invercargill

18 years
18 years

Presbyterian Church, Stirling, Invercargill

11/5338

Peter Smith, father

14 August 1911

Rev. M. Ryburn

No	152
Date of Notice	14 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Munro Paterson	Euphemia Gibb Smith
BDM Match (64%)	William Munro	Euphemia Gibbs
	💍 1911/5500
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	18	18
Dwelling Place	Napier, Invercargill	Stirling, Invercargill
Length of Residence	18 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Stirling, Invercargill
Folio	11/5338
Consent	Peter Smith, father
Date of Certificate	14 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Ryburn

153

16 August 1911

William Joseph Field
Sarah Field

William Joseph Field
Sarah Field
💍 1911/4693

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

25
21

Woodend, Invercargill
Woodend, Invercargill

3 months
6 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

11/4491

16 August 1911

Registrar of Marriages

No	153
Date of Notice	16 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Joseph Field	Sarah Field
	💍 1911/4693
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Woodend, Invercargill	Woodend, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 months	6 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	11/4491
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

154

19 August 1911

Patrick Roche
Mary Lardner

Patrick Roche
Mary Lardner
💍 1911/7142

Bachelor
Spinster

Grave Digger
Domestic

28
23

Stewart Street, Invercargill
Stewart Street, Invercargill

27 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill

11/7204

19 August 1911

Rev. J. S. Kavanagh

No	154
Date of Notice	19 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Roche	Mary Lardner
	💍 1911/7142
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grave Digger	Domestic
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Stewart Street, Invercargill	Stewart Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	27 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill
Folio	11/7204
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Kavanagh

155

23 August 1911

William Walter Henry
Clara Isabel Knipe

William Walter Henry
Clara Mabel Annie Knipe
💍 1911/5262

Bachelor
Spinster

Errand Boy
Domestic

21
22

Teviot Street, Invercargill
Clifton, Invercargill

10 years
10 years

Presbyterian Church, Teviot Street, Invercargill

11/5096

23 August 1911

Rev. J. Sharp

No	155
Date of Notice	23 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Walter Henry	Clara Isabel Knipe
BDM Match (83%)	William Walter Henry	Clara Mabel Annie Knipe
	💍 1911/5262
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Errand Boy	Domestic
Age	21	22
Dwelling Place	Teviot Street, Invercargill	Clifton, Invercargill
Length of Residence	10 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Teviot Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/5096
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Sharp

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).