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 2872

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 31 March 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

7 February 1914

Charles Robert McIntosh
Margueretta Drain

Charles Robert McCrostie
Margretta Drain
💍 1914/8177

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

24
19

Spar Bush, Invercargill
Spar Bush, Invercargill

24 years
19 years

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

1793

James Drain, Father

7 February 1914

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	16
Date of Notice	7 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Robert McIntosh	Margueretta Drain
BDM Match (82%)	Charles Robert McCrostie	Margretta Drain
	💍 1914/8177
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Spar Bush, Invercargill	Spar Bush, Invercargill
Length of Residence	24 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Tay St, Invercargill
Folio	1793
Consent	James Drain, Father
Date of Certificate	7 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

10 February 1914

Arthur Lobb
Onavia Mayhew

Arthur Lobb
Maria Mayhew
💍 1914/8175

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway fireman
Tailoress

25
25

Invercargill
Invercargill

2 years
25 years

Residence of John Henry Lobb, 33 Teviot St, Enwood, Invercargill

1791

10 February 1914

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	17
Date of Notice	10 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Lobb	Onavia Mayhew
BDM Match (88%)	Arthur Lobb	Maria Mayhew
	💍 1914/8175
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway fireman	Tailoress
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Henry Lobb, 33 Teviot St, Enwood, Invercargill
Folio	1791
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

13 February 1914

Henry Randall
Beatrice Mary Lobb

Henry Cundall
Beatrice Mary Lobb
💍 1914/8178

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic

24
20

Invercargill
Invercargill

3 years
20 years

Residence of John Henry Lobb, 33 Teviot St, Enwood, Invercargill

1794

John Henry Lobb, father

13 February 1914

Rev. F. W. Isitt

No	18
Date of Notice	13 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Randall	Beatrice Mary Lobb
BDM Match (92%)	Henry Cundall	Beatrice Mary Lobb
	💍 1914/8178
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Henry Lobb, 33 Teviot St, Enwood, Invercargill
Folio	1794
Consent	John Henry Lobb, father
Date of Certificate	13 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. W. Isitt

17 February 1914

Robert Carter Coster
Elizabeth Beck

Robert Carter Coster
Elizabeth Beck
💍 1914/6582

Bachelor
Spinster

Milkman
Domestic

21
23

Invercargill
Invercargill

21 years
3 years

Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill

359

17 February 1914

Deputy Registrar of Marriages

No	19
Date of Notice	17 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Carter Coster	Elizabeth Beck
	💍 1914/6582
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Milkman	Domestic
Age	21	23
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	21 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar of Marriages, Invercargill
Folio	359
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar of Marriages

18 February 1914

Herbert John Clarkson
Sarah Elizabeth McCleery

Herbert John Clarkson
Sarah Elizabeth McCleery
💍 1914/8179

Widower
Spinster

Sheep farmer
Domestic

41
21

Invercargill
Alexandra Rd, Invercargill

3 days
1 year

Residence of Elizabeth McCleery, Alexandra Rd, Invercargill

1795

18 February 1914

Rev. E. Bissett

No	20
Date of Notice	18 February 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert John Clarkson	Sarah Elizabeth McCleery
	💍 1914/8179
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Sheep farmer	Domestic
Age	41	21
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Alexandra Rd, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	Residence of Elizabeth McCleery, Alexandra Rd, Invercargill
Folio	1795
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Bissett

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).