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 864

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

25 March 1913

Abraham Hirden Starling
Elizabeth Katherine Beer

Abraham Winter Haslemore
Elizabeth Catherine Beer
💍 1913/2292

Bachelor
Spinster

Platelayer
Domestic

30
22

Invercargill
Invercargill

4 days
4 days

English Church, Tay St., Invercargill

13/1809

25 March 1913

Rev. H. Pack

No	49
Date of Notice	25 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Abraham Hirden Starling	Elizabeth Katherine Beer
BDM Match (73%)	Abraham Winter Haslemore	Elizabeth Catherine Beer
	💍 1913/2292
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Platelayer	Domestic
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay St., Invercargill
Folio	13/1809
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Pack

25 March 1913

William King Kyon
Marian Alice Campbell

William Joseph Lyons
Maria Celia Campbell
💍 1913/4655

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic

22
23

Princes St., Invercargill
Jackson St., Invercargill

5 years
12 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tay St., Invercargill

13/3983

25 March 1913

Very Rev. W. Burke

No	50
Date of Notice	25 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William King Kyon	Marian Alice Campbell
BDM Match (68%)	William Joseph Lyons	Maria Celia Campbell
	💍 1913/4655
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Princes St., Invercargill	Jackson St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tay St., Invercargill
Folio	13/3983
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burke

26 March 1913

Edward Sealey Letter
Nellie O'Brien

Edward Scahill
Nellie O'Brien
💍 1913/4656

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dressmaker

39
28

Bond St., Invercargill
Richmond Grove, Invercargill

3 days
28 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tay St., Invercargill

13/3984

26 March 1913

Very Rev. W. Burke

No	51
Date of Notice	26 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Sealey Letter	Nellie O'Brien
BDM Match (73%)	Edward Scahill	Nellie O'Brien
	💍 1913/4656
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	39	28
Dwelling Place	Bond St., Invercargill	Richmond Grove, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	28 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tay St., Invercargill
Folio	13/3984
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burke

31 March 1913

Robert McDowall Town
May Peterham Entwistle

Robert McDowall
May Petheram Gutsell
💍 1913/2270

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Domestic

29
24

Bowmont St., Invercargill
Bowmont St., Invercargill

3 days
12 months

English Church, Tay St., Invercargill

13/1810

31 March 1913

Rev. H. Pack

No	52
Date of Notice	31 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert McDowall Town	May Peterham Entwistle
BDM Match (69%)	Robert McDowall	May Petheram Gutsell
	💍 1913/2270
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Domestic
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Bowmont St., Invercargill	Bowmont St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	12 months
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay St., Invercargill
Folio	13/1810
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Pack

31 March 1913

John Brown
Helen Jenkins

John Brown
Helen Jenkins
💍 1913/2798

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

34
27

Wallacetown, Invercargill
Wallacetown, Invercargill

12 years
25 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

13/2518

31 March 1913

Registrar of Marriages

No	53
Date of Notice	31 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Brown	Helen Jenkins
	💍 1913/2798
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	34	27
Dwelling Place	Wallacetown, Invercargill	Wallacetown, Invercargill
Length of Residence	12 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	13/2518
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

31 March 1913

Percy Jago Israel
Lucretia Garfield Bear

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Typist

30
26

Nith St., Invercargill
110 Tweed St., Invercargill

5 years
24 years

Residence of J. M. Burridge, 110 Tweed St., Invercargill

13/4710

31 March 1913

Rev. J. M. Burridge

No	54
Date of Notice	31 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Jago Israel	Lucretia Garfield Bear
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Typist
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Nith St., Invercargill	110 Tweed St., Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. M. Burridge, 110 Tweed St., Invercargill
Folio	13/4710
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. 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).