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 2886

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 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

11 May 1914

Arthur Edward McGrath
Susan Margaret Barry

Arthur Edward McGrath
Susan Margaret Barry
💍 1914/945

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

23
24

Bluff, Southland
Waikiwi, Invercargill

23 years
1 week

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St, Invercargill

4612

11 May 1914

Rev. W. Burke

No	79
Date of Notice	11 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Edward McGrath	Susan Margaret Barry
	💍 1914/945
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Bluff, Southland	Waikiwi, Invercargill
Length of Residence	23 years	1 week
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne St, Invercargill
Folio	4612
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Burke

19 May 1914

Henry Bennison Ewen
Margaret Ure Sinclair

Henry Bennison Eaven
Margaret Ure Sinclair
💍 1914/6181

Bachelor
Spinster

Threshing Mill Owner
Domestic

34
23

Leet St, Invercargill
Dipton, Southland

3 days
23 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

3767

19 May 1914

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	80
Date of Notice	19 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Bennison Ewen	Margaret Ure Sinclair
BDM Match (95%)	Henry Bennison Eaven	Margaret Ure Sinclair
	💍 1914/6181
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Threshing Mill Owner	Domestic
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Leet St, Invercargill	Dipton, Southland
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	3767
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

20 May 1914

Andrew Cunningham
Charlotte Kingzett

Andrew Cunningham
Charlotte Kinzett
💍 1914/6182

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Mechanic
Domestic

23
19

Leet St, Invercargill
Leet St, Invercargill

6 months
3 months

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

3768

Roy Kingzett, father

20 May 1914

Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

No	81
Date of Notice	20 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Cunningham	Charlotte Kingzett
BDM Match (97%)	Andrew Cunningham	Charlotte Kinzett
	💍 1914/6182
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Mechanic	Domestic
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Leet St, Invercargill	Leet St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	6 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	3768
Consent	Roy Kingzett, father
Date of Certificate	20 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

22 May 1914

Alexander McQuarrie
Jessie Matilda Trust

Alexander McQuarrie
Jessie Matilda Hast
💍 1914/9063

Widower
Spinster

Town Clerk, Bluff
Domestic

43
39

Bluff
Gala St, Invercargill

43 years
30 years

Clubs Hall, Ythan St, Invercargill

4133

22 May 1914

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	82
Date of Notice	22 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander McQuarrie	Jessie Matilda Trust
BDM Match (93%)	Alexander McQuarrie	Jessie Matilda Hast
	💍 1914/9063
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Town Clerk, Bluff	Domestic
Age	43	39
Dwelling Place	Bluff	Gala St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	43 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Clubs Hall, Ythan St, Invercargill
Folio	4133
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

25 May 1914

William McKay
Isabella Alice Stewart

William McKay
Isabella Alice Stewart
💍 1914/9064

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Tailoress

27
30

Arthur St, Invercargill
Forth St, Invercargill

27 years
30 years

Residence of Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Forth St, Invercargill

4134

25 May 1914

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	83
Date of Notice	25 May 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McKay	Isabella Alice Stewart
	💍 1914/9064
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Tailoress
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Arthur St, Invercargill	Forth St, Invercargill
Length of Residence	27 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Forth St, Invercargill
Folio	4134
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 May 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

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).