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 875

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

106

19 June 1913

Peter Myers Danagh
Isobel Ray Ferguson

Peter Myers Darragh
Isobel Adie Ferguson Hain
💍 1913/4633

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

25
21

One Tree Point, Invercargill
One Tree Point, Invercargill

5 years
10 years

Residence of Rev. W. When

13/3985

19 June 1913

Rev. W. When

No	106
Date of Notice	19 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Myers Danagh	Isobel Ray Ferguson
BDM Match (77%)	Peter Myers Darragh	Isobel Adie Ferguson Hain
	💍 1913/4633
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	One Tree Point, Invercargill	One Tree Point, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. W. When
Folio	13/3985
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. When

107

20 June 1913

George Rodgers McIvor
Ludovica Mary Donaldson Roberts

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

20
19

Omakau, Invercargill
Omakau, Invercargill

20 years
9 months

Methodist Church, Invercargill

13/6328

Father

20 June 1913

Rev. W. Grigg

No	107
Date of Notice	20 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Rodgers McIvor	Ludovica Mary Donaldson Roberts
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Omakau, Invercargill	Omakau, Invercargill
Length of Residence	20 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Invercargill
Folio	13/6328
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	20 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Grigg

108

25 June 1913

Charles Alexander Stroud
Helen McIndoe Fraser

Charles Alexander Stroud
Helen McIndoe
💍 1913/8533

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
29

Spar Bush, Invercargill
Spar Bush, Invercargill

2 years
29 years

Residence of Rev. McIndoe, Spar Bush, Invercargill

13/6184

25 June 1913

Rev. John McIndoe

No	108
Date of Notice	25 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Alexander Stroud	Helen McIndoe Fraser
BDM Match (83%)	Charles Alexander Stroud	Helen McIndoe
	💍 1913/8533
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	Spar Bush, Invercargill	Spar Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. McIndoe, Spar Bush, Invercargill
Folio	13/6184
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. John McIndoe

109

27 June 1913

Charles James Hidderson
Alice Mary Edwards

Charles James Henderson
Alice Mary Edwards
💍 1913/4654

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
Domestic

30
36

Nelson Street, Invercargill
One Tree Point, Invercargill

8 years
18 years

Residence of Rev. R. M. Ryburn

13/3982

27 June 1913

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	109
Date of Notice	27 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles James Hidderson	Alice Mary Edwards
BDM Match (96%)	Charles James Henderson	Alice Mary Edwards
	💍 1913/4654
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	Domestic
Age	30	36
Dwelling Place	Nelson Street, Invercargill	One Tree Point, Invercargill
Length of Residence	8 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. R. M. Ryburn
Folio	13/3982
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

110

27 June 1913

Edward Joseph Jones
Myra Mitchell Taylor

Edward Joseph Jones
Myra Mitchell
💍 1913/6084

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

24
22

Grey Street, Invercargill
Lower Street, Invercargill

4 years
2 years

Residence of Rev. R. M. Ryburn

13/5838

27 June 1913

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	110
Date of Notice	27 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Joseph Jones	Myra Mitchell Taylor
BDM Match (83%)	Edward Joseph Jones	Myra Mitchell
	💍 1913/6084
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Grey Street, Invercargill	Lower Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. R. M. Ryburn
Folio	13/5838
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

111

30 June 1913

Sam Christian Wilson
Caroline Margaret Wilson

Bachelor
Spinster

Mariner
Domestic

38
33

Clyde Street, Invercargill
Clyde Street, Invercargill

3 days
30 days

Residence of Rev. W. Grigg

13/6329

30 June 1913

Rev. W. Grigg

No	111
Date of Notice	30 June 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sam Christian Wilson	Caroline Margaret Wilson
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mariner	Domestic
Age	38	33
Dwelling Place	Clyde Street, Invercargill	Clyde Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	30 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. W. Grigg
Folio	13/6329
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 June 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Grigg

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).