Intentions to Marry, 1913 Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840453, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1913 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1913a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1913b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1913c).

Page 854

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1913

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

3 January 1913

William Henry Greenbury
Jane Underwood Dyson

William George McCurdy
Jane Underwood Dyson
💍 1913/6

Bachelor
Spinster

Postmaker
Domestic

21
26

Linton Street, Invercargill
6 Clifton, Invercargill

3 days
15 years

Presbyterian Church, Invercargill

13/4405

3 January 1913

Rev. M.M. Burnagh

No	1
Date of Notice	3 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Greenbury	Jane Underwood Dyson
BDM Match (76%)	William George McCurdy	Jane Underwood Dyson
	💍 1913/6
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postmaker	Domestic
Age	21	26
Dwelling Place	Linton Street, Invercargill	6 Clifton, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Invercargill
Folio	13/4405
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. M.M. Burnagh

4 January 1913

John Drake Bates
Elizabeth Reardon

John Drake
Elizabeth Reardon
💍 1913/2297

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

25
23

George Road, Invercargill
Woodlands, Invercargill

9 months
20 years

Residence of John Reardon, Woodlands

13/1789

4 January 1913

Rev. E. Binett

No	2
Date of Notice	4 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Drake Bates	Elizabeth Reardon
BDM Match (81%)	John Drake	Elizabeth Reardon
	💍 1913/2297
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	George Road, Invercargill	Woodlands, Invercargill
Length of Residence	9 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Reardon, Woodlands
Folio	13/1789
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Binett

6 January 1913

James Hunter
Margaret Ethel Gillies

Jens Jensen
Margaret Esther Gillies
💍 1913/2298

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
House help

29
26

Rimu, Invercargill
Rimu, Invercargill

8 months
3 days

Presbyterian Church, Woodlands, Invercargill

13/1790

6 January 1913

Rev. E. Binett

No	3
Date of Notice	6 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hunter	Margaret Ethel Gillies
BDM Match (67%)	Jens Jensen	Margaret Esther Gillies
	💍 1913/2298
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	House help
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Rimu, Invercargill	Rimu, Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Woodlands, Invercargill
Folio	13/1790
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Binett

8 January 1913

Frank Rowlands Challis
Eliza Young

Frank Rowlands Challis
Eliza Young
💍 1913/2300

Bachelor
Spinster

Funeral Carrier
Domestic

25
24

Avonlea, Invercargill
Makarewa, Invercargill

6 months
24 years

Residence of Frederick Wilson, Romona Road, Invercargill

13/1792

8 January 1913

Rev. J.A. Lyburn

No	4
Date of Notice	8 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Rowlands Challis	Eliza Young
	💍 1913/2300
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Funeral Carrier	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Avonlea, Invercargill	Makarewa, Invercargill
Length of Residence	6 months	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Frederick Wilson, Romona Road, Invercargill
Folio	13/1792
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J.A. Lyburn

11 January 1913

James Alexander Henry
Georgetruon Sophia Nellie Darnes Anderson

James Alexander Henry
Georgetown Sophia Nellie Davina Anderson
💍 1913/2301

Bachelor
Spinster

Teacher
Shop Assistant

27
25

McMarket Street, Invercargill
Monon Road, Invercargill

27 years
25 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, Invercargill

13/1793

11 January 1913

Rev. J. A. Lyburn

No	5
Date of Notice	11 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alexander Henry	Georgetruon Sophia Nellie Darnes Anderson
BDM Match (91%)	James Alexander Henry	Georgetown Sophia Nellie Davina Anderson
	💍 1913/2301
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Teacher	Shop Assistant
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	McMarket Street, Invercargill	Monon Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	27 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Elles Road, Invercargill
Folio	13/1793
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Lyburn

13 January 1913

George Alfred Thomson
Ada Gordon Stott

George Alfred Thomson
Ada Gordon Stott
💍 1913/2302

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

37
26

Dunedin, Otago
37 Eye Street, Invercargill

36 years
26 years

Residence of Alexander Alfred Stott, 37 Eye Street, Invercargill

13/1794

13 January 1913

Rev. R.A. Kyburn

No	6
Date of Notice	13 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Alfred Thomson	Ada Gordon Stott
	💍 1913/2302
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	37	26
Dwelling Place	Dunedin, Otago	37 Eye Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	36 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Alexander Alfred Stott, 37 Eye Street, Invercargill
Folio	13/1794
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R.A. Kyburn

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).