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 2870

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

19 January 1914

Henry Hastings
Mary Ellen Naesmith

Henry Hastings
Mary Ellen Naesmith
💍 1914/8315

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Porter
Domestic

26
24

Ayr Street, Invercargill
Ruth Street, Invercargill

10 years
24 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

1907

19 January 1914

Very Rev. W. Burke

No	6
Date of Notice	19 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hastings	Mary Ellen Naesmith
	💍 1914/8315
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Porter	Domestic
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Ayr Street, Invercargill	Ruth Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	10 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	1907
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. W. Burke

23 January 1914

James Antonio Aulta
Hilda Shield

James Antonio Natta
Hilda Shields
💍 1914/8192

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Domestic

27
22

Leet Street, Invercargill
Leet Street, Invercargill

3 years
10 years

Residence of James Johnston, 12 Leet Street, Invercargill

1785

23 January 1914

Rev. P. M. Ryburn

No	7
Date of Notice	23 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Antonio Aulta	Hilda Shield
BDM Match (88%)	James Antonio Natta	Hilda Shields
	💍 1914/8192
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Domestic
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Leet Street, Invercargill	Leet Street, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of James Johnston, 12 Leet Street, Invercargill
Folio	1785
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. M. Ryburn

23 January 1914

William Edward Duthie
Hannah Soper

William Edward Duthie
Hannah Soper
💍 1914/8214

Bachelor
Spinster

Carting Contractor
Domestic

25
20

Tweed Street, Invercargill
Garston, Southland

25 years
20 years

Residence of John Taylor Soper, Garston, Southland

1806

John Taylor Soper, father

23 January 1914

Rev. W. G. Hannah

No	8
Date of Notice	23 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edward Duthie	Hannah Soper
	💍 1914/8214
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carting Contractor	Domestic
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Tweed Street, Invercargill	Garston, Southland
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John Taylor Soper, Garston, Southland
Folio	1806
Consent	John Taylor Soper, father
Date of Certificate	23 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Hannah

26 January 1914

James Howard Bates
Matilda May Arnold

James Howard Bates
Matilda May Arnold
💍 1914/8170

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

21
20

Woodend, Invercargill
Kennington, Invercargill

21 years
20 years

English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill

1786

Alfred Arnold, father

26 January 1914

Ven. Archdn. Packe

No	9
Date of Notice	26 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Howard Bates	Matilda May Arnold
	💍 1914/8170
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Woodend, Invercargill	Kennington, Invercargill
Length of Residence	21 years	20 years
Marriage Place	English Church, Tay Street, Invercargill
Folio	1786
Consent	Alfred Arnold, father
Date of Certificate	26 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Ven. Archdn. Packe

26 January 1914

Albert Still Peters
Madeline Violet Shivas

Albert Hill Peters
Madeline Violet Shivas
💍 1914/7604

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Shop Assistant

30
25

Clyde Street, Invercargill
Broughton Street, Gore

9 months
20 years

Congregational Church, Gore

1769

26 January 1914

Rev. G. Hervey

No	10
Date of Notice	26 January 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Still Peters	Madeline Violet Shivas
BDM Match (95%)	Albert Hill Peters	Madeline Violet Shivas
	💍 1914/7604
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Shop Assistant
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Clyde Street, Invercargill	Broughton Street, Gore
Length of Residence	9 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Congregational Church, Gore
Folio	1769
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 January 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Hervey

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).