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 860

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 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

6 March 1913

Francis William Dingwall
Leah Lucy Wensey

Francis William Dingwall
Leah Lucy Wesney
💍 1913/2541

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Keeper

26
25

Prince Street, Invercargill
Thomson Street, Invercargill

23 years
23 years

Methodist Church

13/2061

6 March 1913

Rev. W. Gregg

No	30
Date of Notice	6 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis William Dingwall	Leah Lucy Wensey
BDM Match (94%)	Francis William Dingwall	Leah Lucy Wesney
	💍 1913/2541
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Keeper
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Prince Street, Invercargill	Thomson Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	23 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church
Folio	13/2061
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Gregg

6 March 1913

Stanley Francis Berkeley Fuller
Emma Gertrude Knott

Stanley Francis Berkeley Fuller
Emma Gertrude Knott
💍 1913/4642

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Domestic

24
34

Ettick Street, Invercargill
Gala Street, Invercargill

9 years
3 months

English Church

13/3994

6 March 1913

Rev. T. Packe

No	32
Date of Notice	6 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Francis Berkeley Fuller	Emma Gertrude Knott
	💍 1913/4642
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Domestic
Age	24	34
Dwelling Place	Ettick Street, Invercargill	Gala Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	9 years	3 months
Marriage Place	English Church
Folio	13/3994
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Packe

7 March 1913

Edgar Vincent Sheppard
Gladys Eileen Wohlers

Edgar Vincent Sheppard
Gladys Eileen Wohlers
💍 1913/2291

Bachelor
Spinster

Moulder
Domestic

24
19

Nith Street, Invercargill
Vines Street, Invercargill

24 years
19 years

English Church, Tay St., Invercargill

13/1808

John Ahler Wohlers, father

7 March 1913

Rev. T. Packe

No	33
Date of Notice	7 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edgar Vincent Sheppard	Gladys Eileen Wohlers
	💍 1913/2291
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Moulder	Domestic
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Nith Street, Invercargill	Vines Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	24 years	19 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay St., Invercargill
Folio	13/1808
Consent	John Ahler Wohlers, father
Date of Certificate	7 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Packe

14 March 1913

George Henry Morgan
Elizabeth Llewellyn

George Henry Morgan
Elizabeth Llewellyn
💍 1913/2306

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

32
26

Froman Road, Invercargill
McIvor Street, Invercargill

3 years
3 weeks

Methodist Church

13/1797

14 March 1913

Rev. T. W. Pybus

No	34
Date of Notice	14 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Morgan	Elizabeth Llewellyn
	💍 1913/2306
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Froman Road, Invercargill	McIvor Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Methodist Church
Folio	13/1797
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Pybus

14 March 1913

John Grant
Elizabeth Andrewartha Black

John Grant
Elizabeth Andrewetta Black
💍 1913/2296

Widower
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

49
25

120 Eye Street, Invercargill
Bluff Road, Invercargill

5 years
25 years

Church, Conon Street, Invercargill

13/1788

14 March 1913

Rev. J. H. Thaw

No	35
Date of Notice	14 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Grant	Elizabeth Andrewartha Black
BDM Match (94%)	John Grant	Elizabeth Andrewetta Black
	💍 1913/2296
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	49	25
Dwelling Place	120 Eye Street, Invercargill	Bluff Road, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Church, Conon Street, Invercargill
Folio	13/1788
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Thaw

14 March 1913

Alexander Rankin Forbes
Euphemia Young

Alexander Rankin Forbes
Euphemia Young
💍 1913/2275

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

36
31

Lochiel, Invercargill
Lochiel, Invercargill

3 years
3 days

Presbyterian Church

13/1815

14 March 1913

Rev. A. W. Begg

No	36
Date of Notice	14 March 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Rankin Forbes	Euphemia Young
	💍 1913/2275
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	36	31
Dwelling Place	Lochiel, Invercargill	Lochiel, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	13/1815
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Begg

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).