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 877

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 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

112

1 July 1913

Bertie Edward Tanner Cox
Sarah Nash

Bertie Edward Tanner Cox
Sarah Nash
💍 1913/8614

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Shop Assistant

29
22

Spey St, Invercargill
Yarrow St, Invercargill

1 year
22 years

English Church, Tay St., Invercargill

13/8420

1 July 1913

Ven. Arch. Packe

No	112
Date of Notice	1 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bertie Edward Tanner Cox	Sarah Nash
	💍 1913/8614
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Shop Assistant
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Spey St, Invercargill	Yarrow St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 year	22 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay St., Invercargill
Folio	13/8420
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Ven. Arch. Packe

113

8 July 1913

William Edward Murdoch
Christina Ann Munro

William Edward Murdoch
Christine Anne Munro
💍 1913/6085

Bachelor
Spinster

Wood Machinist
Domestic

27
24

Invercargill
Otatara, Invercargill

27 years
24 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St, Invercargill

13/5839

8 July 1913

Rev. W. P. Burke

No	113
Date of Notice	8 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edward Murdoch	Christina Ann Munro
BDM Match (95%)	William Edward Murdoch	Christine Anne Munro
	💍 1913/6085
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Wood Machinist	Domestic
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Otatara, Invercargill
Length of Residence	27 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St, Invercargill
Folio	13/5839
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. P. Burke

114

10 July 1913

Luther George Wellbrock
Dorothy Browning

Luther George Wellbrock
Dorothy Browning
💍 1913/6212

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

24
18

O'Meara St, Invercargill
Morton, Otatara

8 years
3 years

Residence of J. Allen, Morton, Otatara

13/4775

J. Browning, father

10 July 1913

Rev. A. Packe

No	114
Date of Notice	10 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Luther George Wellbrock	Dorothy Browning
	💍 1913/6212
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	O'Meara St, Invercargill	Morton, Otatara
Length of Residence	8 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. Allen, Morton, Otatara
Folio	13/4775
Consent	J. Browning, father
Date of Certificate	10 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Packe

115

11 July 1913

Hugh Johnston
Bertha Lawton

Hugh Johnston
Bertha Lawton
💍 1913/6086

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

36
27

Terbury, Invercargill
Terbury, Invercargill

6 years
3 years

Residence of J. Charles, Ladbrook, Terbury, Invercargill

13/5840

father

11 July 1913

Rev. G. P. Hamer

No	115
Date of Notice	11 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Johnston	Bertha Lawton
	💍 1913/6086
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	36	27
Dwelling Place	Terbury, Invercargill	Terbury, Invercargill
Length of Residence	6 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. Charles, Ladbrook, Terbury, Invercargill
Folio	13/5840
Consent	father
Date of Certificate	11 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. P. Hamer

116

11 July 1913

James Horrie Roby
Euralia Margaret Gertrude James

James Storrier Roby
Eulalie Margaret Gertrude James
💍 1913/6593

Bachelor
Spinster

Hatchmaker
Domestic

28
24

Bowmont St, Invercargill
Princes St, Invercargill

20 years
24 years

Residence of James William Henry, Princes St, Invercargill

13/6336

father

11 July 1913

W. Grigg

No	116
Date of Notice	11 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Horrie Roby	Euralia Margaret Gertrude James
BDM Match (89%)	James Storrier Roby	Eulalie Margaret Gertrude James
	💍 1913/6593
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hatchmaker	Domestic
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Bowmont St, Invercargill	Princes St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	20 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James William Henry, Princes St, Invercargill
Folio	13/6336
Consent	father
Date of Certificate	11 July 1913
Officiating Minister	W. Grigg

117

14 July 1913

John McKenzie
Mary Isabella McLean

John McKenzie
Mary Isabella McLean
💍 1913/5160

Widower
Widow

Carpenter
Domestic

43
37

Bowmont St, Invercargill
Bowmont St, Invercargill

43 years
37 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

13/4816

14 July 1913

Registrar of Marriages

No	117
Date of Notice	14 July 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McKenzie	Mary Isabella McLean
	💍 1913/5160
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic
Age	43	37
Dwelling Place	Bowmont St, Invercargill	Bowmont St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	43 years	37 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	13/4816
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 July 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

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).