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 2909

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 December 1914 Registrar F. G. Petri

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

180

10 November 1914

Arthur Robert Blondell
Mary Isabella Wright

Arthur Robert Blondell
Mary Isabella Wright
💍 1914/4307

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

32
21

Waimatua, Invercargill
Tisbury, Invercargill

4 years
10 years

Methodist Church, Don St, Invercargill

8173

10 November 1914

Rev. S. Henderson

No	180
Date of Notice	10 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Robert Blondell	Mary Isabella Wright
	💍 1914/4307
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	32	21
Dwelling Place	Waimatua, Invercargill	Tisbury, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Don St, Invercargill
Folio	8173
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Henderson

181

12 November 1914

Peter McPherson
Jean McChesney Crombie

Peter McPherson
Jane McChesney Crombie
💍 1914/4306

Bachelor
Spinster

Company Agent
School teacher

30
28

Pukerau, Invercargill
Finch St, Invercargill

3 days
6 weeks

Stobo Hall, Yarrow St, Invercargill

8172

12 November 1914

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	181
Date of Notice	12 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter McPherson	Jean McChesney Crombie
BDM Match (95%)	Peter McPherson	Jane McChesney Crombie
	💍 1914/4306
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Company Agent	School teacher
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Pukerau, Invercargill	Finch St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Stobo Hall, Yarrow St, Invercargill
Folio	8172
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

182

14 November 1914

Frederick Hamilton Bailey
Gertrude Sylvia Bird

Frederick Hamilton Barclay
Gertrude Sylvia Bird
💍 1914/4277

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachsmith
Typist

22
19

Stirling St, Invercargill
Nelson St, Invercargill

7 years
10 years

Presbyterian Church, Don St, Invercargill

8165

Under Section 27

1 December 1914

Rev. H. W. Burridge

No	182
Date of Notice	14 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Hamilton Bailey	Gertrude Sylvia Bird
BDM Match (94%)	Frederick Hamilton Barclay	Gertrude Sylvia Bird
	💍 1914/4277
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachsmith	Typist
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Stirling St, Invercargill	Nelson St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Don St, Invercargill
Folio	8165
Consent	Under Section 27
Date of Certificate	1 December 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. Burridge

183

14 November 1914

Charles McKenzie
Violet Jane Drain

Charles McKenzie
Violet Jane Drain
💍 1914/9611

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

25
32

Isla Bank, Invercargill
Spar Bush, Invercargill

4 years
22 years

Residence of R. W. Shaw, Spar Bush, Invercargill

8167

14 November 1914

Rev. J. W. Shaw

No	183
Date of Notice	14 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles McKenzie	Violet Jane Drain
	💍 1914/9611
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	25	32
Dwelling Place	Isla Bank, Invercargill	Spar Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	4 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Residence of R. W. Shaw, Spar Bush, Invercargill
Folio	8167
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Shaw

184

19 November 1914

Pressney John Kamoto
Mary O'Brien

Pressney John Furrow
Mary O'Brien
💍 1914/4249

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

33
32

Makarewa, Invercargill
Teviot St, Invercargill

5 years
1 month

Registrar's Office, Invercargill

8136

24 November 1914

Registrar

No	184
Date of Notice	19 November 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Pressney John Kamoto	Mary O'Brien
BDM Match (85%)	Pressney John Furrow	Mary O'Brien
	💍 1914/4249
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Makarewa, Invercargill	Teviot St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	5 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Invercargill
Folio	8136
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 November 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

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).