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 626

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 1911 Registrar John Gaunson Petre

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

126

27 June 1911

Alexander Mitchell
Martina Johanna Lange Brengot

Alexander Mitchell
Markina Johanna Large Brungot
💍 1911/4071

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

33
27

West Plains, Invercargill
Mainiur, Invercargill

3 years
2 years

Residence of Albert Walker, Mainiur, Invercargill

11/3776

27 June 1911

Rev. R. A. Chisholm

No	126
Date of Notice	27 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Mitchell	Martina Johanna Lange Brengot
BDM Match (95%)	Alexander Mitchell	Markina Johanna Large Brungot
	💍 1911/4071
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	West Plains, Invercargill	Mainiur, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Albert Walker, Mainiur, Invercargill
Folio	11/3776
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. A. Chisholm

127

27 June 1911

William Spurrier
Isabel Stella Mitchell

William Spurrier
Mabel Stella Mitchell
💍 1911/6236

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

30
24

Mainiur, Invercargill
Sydney Street, Invercargill

30 years
24 years

Residence of Mary Mitchell, Sydney Street, Invercargill

11/6103

27 June 1911

Rev. J. Cumming

No	127
Date of Notice	27 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Spurrier	Isabel Stella Mitchell
BDM Match (95%)	William Spurrier	Mabel Stella Mitchell
	💍 1911/6236
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Mainiur, Invercargill	Sydney Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	30 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mary Mitchell, Sydney Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/6103
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cumming

128

27 June 1911

William Thomas Wallace
Catherine Reidy

William Thomas Guthrie Wallace
Catherine Reidy
💍 1911/4384

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Dressmaker

24
28

Forwelltown, Invercargill
Forwelltown, Invercargill

30 years
28 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

11/4150

27 June 1911

Rev. M. Keenan

No	128
Date of Notice	27 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Wallace	Catherine Reidy
BDM Match (87%)	William Thomas Guthrie Wallace	Catherine Reidy
	💍 1911/4384
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Dressmaker
Age	24	28
Dwelling Place	Forwelltown, Invercargill	Forwelltown, Invercargill
Length of Residence	30 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/4150
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Keenan

129

27 June 1911

Frederick William Anderson
Jessie Amelia Spring

Frederick William Anderson
Jessie Amelia Sims
💍 1911/3681

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Companion

25
20

Annandale, Invercargill
Annandale, Invercargill

25 years
20 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

11/3386

John Spring, father

27 June 1911

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	129
Date of Notice	27 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Anderson	Jessie Amelia Spring
BDM Match (90%)	Frederick William Anderson	Jessie Amelia Sims
	💍 1911/3681
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Companion
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Annandale, Invercargill	Annandale, Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/3386
Consent	John Spring, father
Date of Certificate	27 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

130

28 June 1911

Alfred James Mccormick
Christina Barbara Boniface

Alfred Jackson
Christena Barbara Boniface
💍 1911/3664

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Domestic

22
20

Catherine Street, Invercargill
Earn Street, Invercargill

22 years
3 years

Residence of Edmund Webber, Earn Street, Invercargill

11/3393

28 June 1911

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	130
Date of Notice	28 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred James Mccormick	Christina Barbara Boniface
BDM Match (73%)	Alfred Jackson	Christena Barbara Boniface
	💍 1911/3664
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Domestic
Age	22	20
Dwelling Place	Catherine Street, Invercargill	Earn Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	22 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Edmund Webber, Earn Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/3393
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

131

28 June 1911

John Barnett Thompson
Alice Thompson Webb

John Barnett
Olive Thompson Webb
💍 1911/3680

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

26
24

Ettrick Street, Invercargill
Nith Street, Invercargill

3 years
13 years

Residence of Henry John Webb, Nith Street, Invercargill

11/3383

28 June 1911

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	131
Date of Notice	28 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Barnett Thompson	Alice Thompson Webb
BDM Match (73%)	John Barnett	Olive Thompson Webb
	💍 1911/3680
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Ettrick Street, Invercargill	Nith Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Henry John Webb, Nith Street, Invercargill
Folio	11/3383
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

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).