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 2888

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 1914 Registrar Jno. E. Orgill

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

1 June 1914

John Checketts
Muriel Belinda Stevenson

John Checketts
Muriel Belinda Stevenson
💍 1914/6233

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer
Typist

30
30

Tay Street, Invercargill
Deveron Street, Invercargill

30 years
2 days

English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

3744

1 June 1914

Rev. Jas. Morland

No	89
Date of Notice	1 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Checketts	Muriel Belinda Stevenson
	💍 1914/6233
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer	Typist
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Tay Street, Invercargill	Deveron Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	30 years	2 days
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	3744
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. Morland

8 June 1914

Patrick Joseph Hickey
Beatrice Bernardine Cockerill

Patrick Joseph Hickey
Beatrice Bernardine Cockerill
💍 1914/968

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Domestic

24
27

Waikiwi, Invercargill
Waikiwi, Invercargill

3 days
1 month

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

4611

8 June 1914

Very Rev. Dean Burke

No	90
Date of Notice	8 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Joseph Hickey	Beatrice Bernardine Cockerill
	💍 1914/968
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Domestic
Age	24	27
Dwelling Place	Waikiwi, Invercargill	Waikiwi, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	1 month
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	4611
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Dean Burke

9 June 1914

Edward Todd
Jane Cochrane Waddell

Edward Todd
Jane Cochrane Waddell
💍 1914/9065

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

21
17

Esk Street, Invercargill
Esk Street, Invercargill

3 days
2 days

Residence of Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Tay Street, Invercargill

4135

Thomas Waddell, father

9 June 1914

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	91
Date of Notice	9 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Todd	Jane Cochrane Waddell
	💍 1914/9065
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Esk Street, Invercargill	Esk Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	2 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	4135
Consent	Thomas Waddell, father
Date of Certificate	9 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

9 June 1914

Ernest Shute
Grace Maud Dobby

Ernest Streete
Grace Maud Dobby
💍 1914/6236

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk in Holy Orders
Domestic duties

29
25

Invercargill
Invercargill

9 months
2 days

English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

3746

9 June 1914

Ven. Archdn. Packe

No	92
Date of Notice	9 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Shute	Grace Maud Dobby
BDM Match (86%)	Ernest Streete	Grace Maud Dobby
	💍 1914/6236
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk in Holy Orders	Domestic duties
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	9 months	2 days
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	3746
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdn. Packe

10 June 1914

Farquhar John McRae
Minnie Galley

Farquhar John McRae
Minnie Calley
💍 1914/9301

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic

23
30

Gordon Street, Invercargill
Yarrow Street, Invercargill

3 days
11 years

Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, Invercargill

4472

10 June 1914

Rev. H. W. Burridge

No	93
Date of Notice	10 June 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Farquhar John McRae	Minnie Galley
BDM Match (96%)	Farquhar John McRae	Minnie Calley
	💍 1914/9301
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	23	30
Dwelling Place	Gordon Street, Invercargill	Yarrow Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	11 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Dee Street, Invercargill
Folio	4472
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 June 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. Burridge

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).