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 873

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

31 May 1913

John Thomas Williamson
Annie Johnson

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Surfacer
Domestic

24
21

Terburg, Invercargill
Terburg, Invercargill

2 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

13/4437

31 May 1913

Very Rev. W. Burke

No	94
Date of Notice	31 May 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Williamson	Annie Johnson
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Surfacer	Domestic
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Terburg, Invercargill	Terburg, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	13/4437
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1913
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burke

2 June 1913

James William Cowan
Margery Anne Iwan

James William Cowan
Margaret Anne Irwin
💍 1913/4479

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

24
30

Lochiel, Invercargill
Lochiel, Invercargill

4 days
30 years

Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, Invercargill

13/4082

2 June 1913

R. Mackie

No	95
Date of Notice	2 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Cowan	Margery Anne Iwan
BDM Match (87%)	James William Cowan	Margaret Anne Irwin
	💍 1913/4479
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	24	30
Dwelling Place	Lochiel, Invercargill	Lochiel, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	30 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, Invercargill
Folio	13/4082
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1913
Officiating Minister	R. Mackie

2 June 1913

George Sidney Perkins
Enid Prodock Featherstone

George Sidney Perkins
Enid Brodrick Featherstone
💍 1913/4644

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Domestic

39
30

Jackson Street, Invercargill
Jackson Street, Invercargill

3 years
20 years

English Church, Dee Street, Invercargill

13/3995

2 June 1913

The Rev. Jack

No	96
Date of Notice	2 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Sidney Perkins	Enid Prodock Featherstone
BDM Match (94%)	George Sidney Perkins	Enid Brodrick Featherstone
	💍 1913/4644
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic
Age	39	30
Dwelling Place	Jackson Street, Invercargill	Jackson Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Dee Street, Invercargill
Folio	13/3995
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1913
Officiating Minister	The Rev. Jack

4 June 1913

David Saunders Jenkins
Louisa Francis Newton

David Saunders
Louisa Frances Jenkins
💍 1913/4653

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

24
25

Rodney Street, Invercargill
Rodney Street, Invercargill

4 days
30 days

Residence of Registrar, Ryburn Street, Invercargill

13/3981

4 June 1913

R. W. Ryburn

No	97
Date of Notice	4 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Saunders Jenkins	Louisa Francis Newton
BDM Match (68%)	David Saunders	Louisa Frances Jenkins
	💍 1913/4653
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Rodney Street, Invercargill	Rodney Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 days	30 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Registrar, Ryburn Street, Invercargill
Folio	13/3981
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1913
Officiating Minister	R. W. Ryburn

4 June 1913

Francis O'Hare
Esther Fair

Francis O'Kane
Esther Fair
💍 1913/4647

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Surfacer
Domestic

25
23

Longbush, Invercargill
Longbush, Invercargill

3 days
1 year

Residence of George White, Longbush, Invercargill

13/3998

4 June 1913

Rev. H. Knowles

No	98
Date of Notice	4 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis O'Hare	Esther Fair
BDM Match (93%)	Francis O'Kane	Esther Fair
	💍 1913/4647
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Surfacer	Domestic
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Longbush, Invercargill	Longbush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of George White, Longbush, Invercargill
Folio	13/3998
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Knowles

4 June 1913

Peter McDougall
Margaret McNaughton

Peter McDougall
Margaret McNaughton
💍 1913/4645

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman
Domestic

24
22

West Plains, Invercargill
West Plains, Invercargill

8 years
6 years

Residence of William McNaughton, West Plains, Invercargill

13/3996

4 June 1913

Rev. J. Cumming

No	99
Date of Notice	4 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter McDougall	Margaret McNaughton
	💍 1913/4645
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman	Domestic
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	West Plains, Invercargill	West Plains, Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of William McNaughton, West Plains, Invercargill
Folio	13/3996
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cumming

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).