Intentions to Marry, 1914 Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840456, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1914 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1914a), Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1914b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1914c).

Page 2895

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 1914

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

117

20 July 1914

James Henry Hill
Honora Deegan

James Henry Hill
Hanorah Deegan
💍 1914/2969

Bachelor
Spinster

Lorry Hand
Domestic

37
38

Dee Street, Invercargill
Lorne, Invercargill

11 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Church, Waikiwi, Invercargill

6596

20 July 1914

Rev. F. N. Woods

No	117
Date of Notice	20 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Hill	Honora Deegan
BDM Match (93%)	James Henry Hill	Hanorah Deegan
	💍 1914/2969
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Lorry Hand	Domestic
Age	37	38
Dwelling Place	Dee Street, Invercargill	Lorne, Invercargill
Length of Residence	11 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Waikiwi, Invercargill
Folio	6596
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. N. Woods

118

21 July 1914

Giles Bacchus Marsh
Blanche Neal Anderson

Giles Bacchus Marsh
Blanche Irene Anderson
💍 1914/2857

Bachelor
Spinster

Foreman Freezing Works
Domestic

35
25

Earn Street, Invercargill
Earn Street, Invercargill

3 days
2 years

Residence of Mary Aldridge, Earn Street, Invercargill

6601

21 July 1914

Rev. E. W. Walker

No	118
Date of Notice	21 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Giles Bacchus Marsh	Blanche Neal Anderson
BDM Match (91%)	Giles Bacchus Marsh	Blanche Irene Anderson
	💍 1914/2857
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Foreman Freezing Works	Domestic
Age	35	25
Dwelling Place	Earn Street, Invercargill	Earn Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mary Aldridge, Earn Street, Invercargill
Folio	6601
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. W. Walker

119

22 July 1914

Thomas Frederick Thompson
Wilhelmina Margaret Georgison

Thomas Frederick Thompson
Wilhelmina Margaret Georgeson
💍 1914/2970

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Dressmaker

30
26

Ann Street, Invercargill
Princes Street, Invercargill

6 months
26 years

Presbyterian Church, William Street, Invercargill

6597

22 July 1914

Rev. John Collie

No	119
Date of Notice	22 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Frederick Thompson	Wilhelmina Margaret Georgison
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Frederick Thompson	Wilhelmina Margaret Georgeson
	💍 1914/2970
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Dressmaker
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Ann Street, Invercargill	Princes Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	6 months	26 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, William Street, Invercargill
Folio	6597
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Collie

120

23 July 1914

James Robbie
Jane Fallow Brown

James Robbie
Jane Fallon Brown
💍 1914/2743

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

36
22

Mokotua, Invercargill
Waimatuku, Riverton

11 months
22 years

Residence of John Alex Brown, Waimatuku, Riverton

6527

23 July 1914

Rev. J. Chisholm

No	120
Date of Notice	23 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Robbie	Jane Fallow Brown
BDM Match (97%)	James Robbie	Jane Fallon Brown
	💍 1914/2743
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Mokotua, Invercargill	Waimatuku, Riverton
Length of Residence	11 months	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Alex Brown, Waimatuku, Riverton
Folio	6527
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Chisholm

121

25 July 1914

Hugh Bickerstaff Thomson
Jessie Whyte

Hugh Rickerstaff Thomson
Jessie Whyte
💍 1914/2794

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Waitress

24
22

William Street, Collingwood
Gordon Street, Collingwood

24 years
22 years

Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, Invercargill

6570

25 July 1914

Rev. J. T. Young

No	121
Date of Notice	25 July 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Bickerstaff Thomson	Jessie Whyte
BDM Match (98%)	Hugh Rickerstaff Thomson	Jessie Whyte
	💍 1914/2794
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Waitress
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	William Street, Collingwood	Gordon Street, Collingwood
Length of Residence	24 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, Invercargill
Folio	6570
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. T. Young

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).