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 866

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 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

1 April 1913

William Henry Philpot
Mary Frances Boyd

William Henry Philpot
Mary Frances Boyd
💍 1913/6557

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

32
27

Freeburg, Invercargill
Naianawa, Invercargill

19 years
2 years

Presbyterian Church

13/6186

1 April 1913

Rev. J. Christolon

No	58
Date of Notice	1 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Philpot	Mary Frances Boyd
	💍 1913/6557
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Freeburg, Invercargill	Naianawa, Invercargill
Length of Residence	19 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	13/6186
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Christolon

2 April 1913

Arthur Lightfoot Brown
Violet Johnson

Arthur Lightfoot
Violet Johnson
💍 1913/2792

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

31
21

Esk St, Invercargill
Esk St, Invercargill

3 days
3 days

Registrar of Marriages Office, Invercargill

13/2512

2 April 1913

Registrar of Marriages

No	59
Date of Notice	2 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Lightfoot Brown	Violet Johnson
BDM Match (86%)	Arthur Lightfoot	Violet Johnson
	💍 1913/2792
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Esk St, Invercargill	Esk St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar of Marriages Office, Invercargill
Folio	13/2512
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

2 April 1913

Charles Henry Bradley
Ellen Ashley Bradley

Charles Henry Bradley
Ellen Ashley
💍 1913/6482

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Domestic

35
27

Conon St, Invercargill
Don St, Invercargill

3 days
13 years

Methodist Church

13/6211

2 April 1913

Rev. W. Layson

No	60
Date of Notice	2 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Bradley	Ellen Ashley Bradley
BDM Match (80%)	Charles Henry Bradley	Ellen Ashley
	💍 1913/6482
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Domestic
Age	35	27
Dwelling Place	Conon St, Invercargill	Don St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	13 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church
Folio	13/6211
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Layson

2 April 1913

Thomas George Lewis
Louisa Rhoda Coutts

Thomas George Lewis
Louisa Rhoda Coutts
💍 1913/4307

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Saleswoman

25
29

Roy St, Invercargill
Tay St, Invercargill

25 years
4 years

First Church, Invercargill

13/3833

2 April 1913

Rev. G. T. Balfour

No	61
Date of Notice	2 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas George Lewis	Louisa Rhoda Coutts
	💍 1913/4307
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Saleswoman
Age	25	29
Dwelling Place	Roy St, Invercargill	Tay St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 years	4 years
Marriage Place	First Church, Invercargill
Folio	13/3833
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. T. Balfour

8 April 1913

Thomas George Lewis
Louisa Rhoda Coutts

Thomas George Lewis
Louisa Rhoda Coutts
💍 1913/4307

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Saleswoman

25
29

Dee St, Dunedin
Tay St, Invercargill

3 days
4 years

First Church (Presbyterian), Dunedin

13/3833

8 April 1913

Rev. G. T. Balfour

No	62
Date of Notice	8 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas George Lewis	Louisa Rhoda Coutts
	💍 1913/4307
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Saleswoman
Age	25	29
Dwelling Place	Dee St, Dunedin	Tay St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	First Church (Presbyterian), Dunedin
Folio	13/3833
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. T. Balfour

14 April 1913

John William Fraser
Mary Ann Muirhead

John William Fraser
Mary Ann Muirhead Kinnaird
💍 1913/4399

Bachelor
Spinster

Flour Miller
Matron

25
23

Elles Road, Invercargill
Don St, Invercargill

25 years
23 years

Stobs Road, Knox Church, Invercargill

13/3975

14 April 1913

Rev. R. T. Hepburn

No	63
Date of Notice	14 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Fraser	Mary Ann Muirhead
BDM Match (83%)	John William Fraser	Mary Ann Muirhead Kinnaird
	💍 1913/4399
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flour Miller	Matron
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Elles Road, Invercargill	Don St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Stobs Road, Knox Church, Invercargill
Folio	13/3975
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. T. 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).