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 882

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

142

19 August 1913

William Nicoll Scobie
Isabella Orr Ewen

William Scobie
Isabella McEwen
💍 1913/8876

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Housekeeper

47
39

Forth, Invercargill
Dee Street, Invercargill

3 days
39 years

Presbyterian Church

8356

19 August 1913

Rev. F.M. Burningham

No	142
Date of Notice	19 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Nicoll Scobie	Isabella Orr Ewen
BDM Match (72%)	William Scobie	Isabella McEwen
	💍 1913/8876
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	47	39
Dwelling Place	Forth, Invercargill	Dee Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	39 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	8356
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F.M. Burningham

143

27 August 1913

Norman Samuel Thomson
Ivy Jackson

Norman Samuel Thomson
Ivy Jackson
💍 1913/8879

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Domestic

28
27

Heriot Street, Invercargill
Jackson Street, Invercargill

25 years
10 years

Presbyterian Church

8359

27 August 1913

Rev. F.M. Burningham

No	143
Date of Notice	27 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Samuel Thomson	Ivy Jackson
	💍 1913/8879
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Domestic
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Heriot Street, Invercargill	Jackson Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	25 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	8359
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F.M. Burningham

144

28 August 1913

Albert Currie
Ellen Grace Hewett

Albert Currie
Grace Ellen Hewett
💍 1913/6151

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic

28
16

Otatara, Invercargill
Otatara, Invercargill

15 years
16 years

Presbyterian Church Manse

13/5856

Frank Hewett, father

28 August 1913

Rev. R.A. Ryburn

No	144
Date of Notice	28 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Currie	Ellen Grace Hewett
BDM Match (72%)	Albert Currie	Grace Ellen Hewett
	💍 1913/6151
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic
Age	28	16
Dwelling Place	Otatara, Invercargill	Otatara, Invercargill
Length of Residence	15 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Manse
Folio	13/5856
Consent	Frank Hewett, father
Date of Certificate	28 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R.A. Ryburn

145

28 August 1913

John Duncan Gilmour
Lucinia Edith Taylor

John Dinnen Gilmore
Lucenia Edith Taylor
💍 1913/8878

Bachelor
Spinster

Optician
Domestic Duties

31
23

Garrick Street, Invercargill
Dee Street, Invercargill

5 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church

8358

28 August 1913

Rev. F.M. Burningham

No	145
Date of Notice	28 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Duncan Gilmour	Lucinia Edith Taylor
BDM Match (84%)	John Dinnen Gilmore	Lucenia Edith Taylor
	💍 1913/8878
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Optician	Domestic Duties
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Garrick Street, Invercargill	Dee Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	8358
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F.M. Burningham

146

29 August 1913

Albert Allan Gardner
Alfreda Emily Phillips

Arthur Struan Robertson Gardner
Alfreda Emily Philips
💍 1913/8877

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

33
31

Grey Street, Invercargill
Grey Street, Invercargill

3 days
27 years

Residence of Mrs Gardner, Grey Street

8357

29 August 1913

Rev. F.M. Burningham

No	146
Date of Notice	29 August 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Allan Gardner	Alfreda Emily Phillips
BDM Match (69%)	Arthur Struan Robertson Gardner	Alfreda Emily Philips
	💍 1913/8877
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	33	31
Dwelling Place	Grey Street, Invercargill	Grey Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Gardner, Grey Street
Folio	8357
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. F.M. Burningham

147

3 September 1913

Christopher Cooper
Janet Jackson

Christopher Cooper
Janet Jackson
💍 1913/8649

Bachelor
Spinster

Freezer
Domestic

43
41

Gladstone, Invercargill
Gladstone, Invercargill

3 days
20 years

English Church

8432

3 September 1913

Rev. D. Jones

No	147
Date of Notice	3 September 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Christopher Cooper	Janet Jackson
	💍 1913/8649
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Freezer	Domestic
Age	43	41
Dwelling Place	Gladstone, Invercargill	Gladstone, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	English Church
Folio	8432
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Jones

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).