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 857

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1913 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

29 January 1913

John Joseph Fahey
Delia Mary Caulfield

John Joseph Fahey
Delia Mary Caulfield
💍 1913/2444

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

44
33

Erool Road, Invercargill
Erool Road, Invercargill

4 days
33 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St, Invercargill

13/2011

29 January 1913

Very Rev. W. Burns

No	13
Date of Notice	29 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joseph Fahey	Delia Mary Caulfield
	💍 1913/2444
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	44	33
Dwelling Place	Erool Road, Invercargill	Erool Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	33 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St, Invercargill
Folio	13/2011
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burns

30 January 1913

Nathaniel Dawson
Sarah Irene Jane Dawson

Nathaniel Dunn
Sarah Louisa Jane Dawson
💍 1913/2281

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

28
22

Kensington, Invercargill
Kensington, Invercargill

4 years
22 years

Presbyterian Church, Fleming St, Invercargill

13/1820

30 January 1913

Rev. W. J. Salicote

No	14
Date of Notice	30 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Nathaniel Dawson	Sarah Irene Jane Dawson
BDM Match (75%)	Nathaniel Dunn	Sarah Louisa Jane Dawson
	💍 1913/2281
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Kensington, Invercargill	Kensington, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Fleming St, Invercargill
Folio	13/1820
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Salicote

1 February 1913

Thomas Thyes
Fanny Shields

Thomas Thyme
Fanny Shields
💍 1913/4628

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic

26
19

Dublin St, Invercargill
Dublin St, Invercargill

5 years
10 years

Residence of Matthew Shields, Dublin St, Invercargill

13/4206

Matthew Shields, father

3 February 1913

Rev. T. W. Burridge

No	15
Date of Notice	1 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Thyes	Fanny Shields
BDM Match (92%)	Thomas Thyme	Fanny Shields
	💍 1913/4628
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Dublin St, Invercargill	Dublin St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Matthew Shields, Dublin St, Invercargill
Folio	13/4206
Consent	Matthew Shields, father
Date of Certificate	3 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Burridge

4 February 1913

George Oscar Robinson
Ivy Lenora McLean

George Dean Robinson
Ivy Lenora McLean
💍 1913/4629

Bachelor
Spinster

Fruiterer
Housekeeper

33
28

Invercargill
Invercargill

10 years
20 years

Knox Presbyterian Church, Clyde St, Invercargill

13/4207

4 February 1913

Rev. T. W. Burridge

No	16
Date of Notice	4 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Oscar Robinson	Ivy Lenora McLean
BDM Match (91%)	George Dean Robinson	Ivy Lenora McLean
	💍 1913/4629
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fruiterer	Housekeeper
Age	33	28
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	10 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Knox Presbyterian Church, Clyde St, Invercargill
Folio	13/4207
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Burridge

5 February 1913

James Words Roberts
Annie Emily Shade

James Wood Roberts
Annie Emily Shave
💍 1913/2282

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook
Housemaid

20
19

Woodlands, Invercargill
Woodlands, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Residence of Henry W. Shaw, Woodlands, Invercargill

13/1821

Henry W. Shaw, father

5 February 1913

Rev. Richard Morgan

No	17
Date of Notice	5 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Words Roberts	Annie Emily Shade
BDM Match (92%)	James Wood Roberts	Annie Emily Shave
	💍 1913/2282
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook	Housemaid
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Woodlands, Invercargill	Woodlands, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Henry W. Shaw, Woodlands, Invercargill
Folio	13/1821
Consent	Henry W. Shaw, father
Date of Certificate	5 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Richard Morgan

5 February 1913

Robert Carlyle Wilson
Agnes Calder Sutherland

Robert Carlyle Wilson
Agnes Gedes Sutherland
💍 1913/4630

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Domestic

24
26

Devon St, Invercargill
Grey St, Invercargill

24 years
26 years

Presbyterian Church, Dee St, Invercargill

13/4208

5 February 1913

Rev. T. W. Burridge

No	18
Date of Notice	5 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Carlyle Wilson	Agnes Calder Sutherland
BDM Match (91%)	Robert Carlyle Wilson	Agnes Gedes Sutherland
	💍 1913/4630
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Domestic
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Devon St, Invercargill	Grey St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	24 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Dee St, Invercargill
Folio	13/4208
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Burridge

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).