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 941

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 1913 Registrar T. H. Macfarlane

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

887

28 February 1913

Thomas Percy Milne
Bessie Mabel Goode

Thomas Percy Milne
Bessie Mabel Goode
💍 1913/2323

Bachelor
Spinster

Jockey
Domestic duties

22
21

Riverton
Riverton

4 years
21 years

Private residence of Mrs D. Gordon, Durlock Street, Riverton

13/1839

28 February 1913

Rev. Jas. Morland (Church of England)

No	887
Date of Notice	28 February 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Percy Milne	Bessie Mabel Goode
	💍 1913/2323
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jockey	Domestic duties
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	4 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Private residence of Mrs D. Gordon, Durlock Street, Riverton
Folio	13/1839
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Morland (Church of England)

888

1 March 1913

Charles Thomasteau
Maria Newton

Charles Thomas Te Au
Maria Newton
💍 1913/2458

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

31
25

Bolac Bay
Bolac Bay

26 years
2 years

At the office of the Registrar of Marriages at Riverton

13/2025

1 March 1913

T. H. Macfarlane, Registrar

No	888
Date of Notice	1 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Thomasteau	Maria Newton
BDM Match (90%)	Charles Thomas Te Au	Maria Newton
	💍 1913/2458
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Bolac Bay	Bolac Bay
Length of Residence	26 years	2 years
Marriage Place	At the office of the Registrar of Marriages at Riverton
Folio	13/2025
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1913
Officiating Minister	T. H. Macfarlane, Registrar

889

14 March 1913

John McGillivray (Junior)
Catherine Mary Molloy

John McGillivray
Catherine Mary Molloy
💍 1913/2322

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

32
24

Thornbury
Gummie's Bush

10 years
16 years

Private residence of the Rev. W. T. Hooper, Riverton

13/1838

14 March 1913

Rev. W. T. Hooper (Wesleyan)

No	889
Date of Notice	14 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McGillivray (Junior)	Catherine Mary Molloy
BDM Match (82%)	John McGillivray	Catherine Mary Molloy
	💍 1913/2322
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Thornbury	Gummie's Bush
Length of Residence	10 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Private residence of the Rev. W. T. Hooper, Riverton
Folio	13/1838
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. T. Hooper (Wesleyan)

890

17 March 1913

John James McBrostie
Martha Jack McDougall

John James McCrostie
Martha Jack McDougall
💍 1913/4695

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic duties

27
26

Bolac Bay
Limestone Plains

3 days
4 years

The private residence of Mr Charles McDougall, Isla Bank

13/4296

17 March 1913

Rev. John Erwin (Presbyterian)

No	890
Date of Notice	17 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James McBrostie	Martha Jack McDougall
BDM Match (98%)	John James McCrostie	Martha Jack McDougall
	💍 1913/4695
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Bolac Bay	Limestone Plains
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	The private residence of Mr Charles McDougall, Isla Bank
Folio	13/4296
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Erwin (Presbyterian)

891

31 March 1913

Morgan Hayes (Junior)
Kate Campbell

Morgan Hayes
Kate Campbell
💍 1913/2566

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Waitress

24
20

Riverton
Riverton

24 years
2 years

The Roman Catholic Church at Riverton

13/2111

James Campbell, of Centre Bush, Father

31 March 1913

Rev. Patrick Murphy (Roman Catholic)

No	891
Date of Notice	31 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Morgan Hayes (Junior)	Kate Campbell
BDM Match (79%)	Morgan Hayes	Kate Campbell
	💍 1913/2566
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Waitress
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	24 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church at Riverton
Folio	13/2111
Consent	James Campbell, of Centre Bush, Father
Date of Certificate	31 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. Patrick Murphy (Roman Catholic)

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).