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 606

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 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

18 January 1911

Alfred Ernest Kelland
Catherine Barnett

Alfred Ernest Kelland
Catherine Barnett
💍 1911/2100

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

22
23

Tay St, Invercargill
Tay St, Invercargill

18 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages

11/1578

18 January 1911

Deputy Registrar of Marriages

No	7
Date of Notice	18 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Ernest Kelland	Catherine Barnett
	💍 1911/2100
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Tay St, Invercargill	Tay St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	18 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages
Folio	11/1578
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar of Marriages

21 January 1911

James Andrew Pearson
Jessie McChesney

James Andrew Stowie
Susan McChesney
💍 1911/1959

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic

25
22

Tweed St, Invercargill
Earn St, Invercargill

12 years
5 years

Residence of Rev. J. M. Chesney

11/1510

21 January 1911

Rev. J. M. Chesney

No	8
Date of Notice	21 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Andrew Pearson	Jessie McChesney
BDM Match (67%)	James Andrew Stowie	Susan McChesney
	💍 1911/1959
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Tweed St, Invercargill	Earn St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	12 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. J. M. Chesney
Folio	11/1510
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Chesney

23 January 1911

William James Gregor
Mary Robertson Gardner

William James Grigor
Mary Robertson Gardner
💍 1911/424

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Farmer

38
40

Dee St, Invercargill
Spey St, Invercargill

3 days
6 years

Residence of Mary Kew Gardner, Spey St

11/1621

23 January 1911

Rev. Leo Lindsay

No	9
Date of Notice	23 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Gregor	Mary Robertson Gardner
BDM Match (98%)	William James Grigor	Mary Robertson Gardner
	💍 1911/424
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Farmer
Age	38	40
Dwelling Place	Dee St, Invercargill	Spey St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mary Kew Gardner, Spey St
Folio	11/1621
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Leo Lindsay

25 January 1911

William John Beggs
Ellen Haley

William John Beggs
Ellen Fahey
💍 1911/401

Bachelor
Spinster

Road Contractor
School Teacher

34
37

Esk St, Invercargill
Roslyn Bush, Nelson St

4 days
6 weeks

Residence of Elizabeth Minley, Nelson St

11/1622

25 January 1911

Rev. Frank Beggs

No	10
Date of Notice	25 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Beggs	Ellen Haley
BDM Match (91%)	William John Beggs	Ellen Fahey
	💍 1911/401
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Road Contractor	School Teacher
Age	34	37
Dwelling Place	Esk St, Invercargill	Roslyn Bush, Nelson St
Length of Residence	4 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Elizabeth Minley, Nelson St
Folio	11/1622
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Frank Beggs

23 January 1911

Andrew Noble McLean
Harriet Mason

Andrew Noble McLean
Harriet Mason
💍 1911/423

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic

27
27

Esk St, Invercargill
Clifton St, Invercargill

4 years
4 years

Residence of Rev. E. G. Issey, Kelvin St

11/1620

23 January 1911

Rev. Leo Lindsay

No	11
Date of Notice	23 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Noble McLean	Harriet Mason
	💍 1911/423
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Esk St, Invercargill	Clifton St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. E. G. Issey, Kelvin St
Folio	11/1620
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Leo Lindsay

24 January 1911

Ernest Matthew Checkett
Mary Jane Milne

Ernest Matthew Checketts
Mary Jane Milne
💍 1911/2092

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic

29
24

Woodhouse St, Invercargill
Lowemont St, Invercargill

29 years
24 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay St

11/1644

24 January 1911

Rev. R. H. Hepburn

No	12
Date of Notice	24 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Matthew Checkett	Mary Jane Milne
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest Matthew Checketts	Mary Jane Milne
	💍 1911/2092
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Woodhouse St, Invercargill	Lowemont St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	29 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay St
Folio	11/1644
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. H. Hepburn

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).