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 856

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

13 January 1913

Emmanuel Halder
Ida Elizabeth Lapson

Emmanuel Halder
Ida Elizabeth Capron
💍 1913/2276

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic

25
24

Woodland, Invercargill
Woodland, Invercargill

2 months
2 months

Primitive Methodist Church, Dee St, Invercargill

13/1816

13 January 1913

Rev. W. Laycock

No	7
Date of Notice	13 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Emmanuel Halder	Ida Elizabeth Lapson
BDM Match (95%)	Emmanuel Halder	Ida Elizabeth Capron
	💍 1913/2276
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Woodland, Invercargill	Woodland, Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Dee St, Invercargill
Folio	13/1816
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Laycock

14 January 1913

James Duff Grant
Eileen Katherine Anderson

James Duff Grant
Eileen Katherine Anderson
💍 1913/941

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger
Domestic

23
18

Liffey St, Invercargill
Tweed St, Invercargill

23 years
18 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages

13/342

Andrew Anderson, father

14 January 1913

Registrar of Marriages

No	8
Date of Notice	14 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Duff Grant	Eileen Katherine Anderson
	💍 1913/941
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger	Domestic
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Liffey St, Invercargill	Tweed St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	23 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages
Folio	13/342
Consent	Andrew Anderson, father
Date of Certificate	14 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

21 January 1913

Alexander Thomson
Amelia Jane Balneaves

Alexander Thomson
Amelia Jane Balneaves
💍 1913/2287

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

32
29

Myross Bush, Invercargill
Myross Bush, Invercargill

32 years
29 years

Residence of J. Cumming, Myross Bush

13/1804

21 January 1913

Rev. J. Cumming

No	9
Date of Notice	21 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Thomson	Amelia Jane Balneaves
	💍 1913/2287
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Myross Bush, Invercargill	Myross Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	32 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Residence of J. Cumming, Myross Bush
Folio	13/1804
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cumming

21 January 1913

Robert William Jones
Lily Alvares

Robert William Jones
Lily Aldred
💍 1913/4657

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic

25
22

Gladstone, Invercargill
Gladstone, Invercargill

3 days
15 years

English Church, Gladstone, Invercargill

13/4251

21 January 1913

Rev. J. Jones

No	10
Date of Notice	21 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert William Jones	Lily Alvares
BDM Match (88%)	Robert William Jones	Lily Aldred
	💍 1913/4657
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Gladstone, Invercargill	Gladstone, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	15 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Gladstone, Invercargill
Folio	13/4251
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Jones

28 January 1913

Sylvester Francis Horan
Margaret Teresa Gilfeader

Sylvester Francis Horan
Margaret Teresa Gilfedder
💍 1913/2443

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic

29
28

Beaumont St, Invercargill
Kensington, Invercargill

3 days
28 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St, Invercargill

13/2010

28 January 1913

Very Rev. T. Burr

No	11
Date of Notice	28 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sylvester Francis Horan	Margaret Teresa Gilfeader
BDM Match (98%)	Sylvester Francis Horan	Margaret Teresa Gilfedder
	💍 1913/2443
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Beaumont St, Invercargill	Kensington, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	28 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St, Invercargill
Folio	13/2010
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. T. Burr

28 January 1913

Hugh Sylvester Macnamara
Esther Fern Ryburn

Hugh Sylvester Braumann
Esther Fenn
💍 1913/2303

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Tailoress

22
22

St. Andrew St, Invercargill
Leven St, Invercargill

4 years
22 years

Residence of R. M. Ryburn, Leven St, Invercargill

13/1795

28 January 1913

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	12
Date of Notice	28 January 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Sylvester Macnamara	Esther Fern Ryburn
BDM Match (66%)	Hugh Sylvester Braumann	Esther Fenn
	💍 1913/2303
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Tailoress
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	St. Andrew St, Invercargill	Leven St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of R. M. Ryburn, Leven St, Invercargill
Folio	13/1795
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

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).