Intentions to Marry, 1915 Rangiora to Chatham Islands (includes Otago)

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840462, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1915 is bound in six volumes (a to f) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1915f contains pages 2619-3266, covering districts from Rangiora to Chatham Islands (includes Otago)

Page 3144

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 June 1915 Registrar J. G. Petrie

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

17 May 1915

John William Ritchie
Eleanor Gordon Libbis

John William Ritchie
Eleanor Gordon Lilico
💍 1915/2544

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Shop Assistant

25
25

Invercargill
Lochiel, Invercargill

3 days
12 years

Presbyterian Church, Tay St, Invercargill

4274

17 May 1915

Rev. R. M. Ryburn

No	82
Date of Notice	17 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Ritchie	Eleanor Gordon Libbis
BDM Match (91%)	John William Ritchie	Eleanor Gordon Lilico
	💍 1915/2544
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Shop Assistant
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Lochiel, Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 days	12 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Tay St, Invercargill
Folio	4274
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn

18 May 1915

William John Leith
Madeline Agnes Henderson

William John Leith
Madeline Anne Henderson
💍 1915/2361

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic

19
19

Woodlands, Invercargill
Woodlands, Invercargill

19 years
2 years

Residence of W. Knox Henderson, Woodlands, Invercargill

4242

Maitland Leith, father, W. Knox Henderson, father

18 May 1915

Rev. G. W. Jupp

No	83
Date of Notice	18 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Leith	Madeline Agnes Henderson
BDM Match (96%)	William John Leith	Madeline Anne Henderson
	💍 1915/2361
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic
Age	19	19
Dwelling Place	Woodlands, Invercargill	Woodlands, Invercargill
Length of Residence	19 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of W. Knox Henderson, Woodlands, Invercargill
Folio	4242
Consent	Maitland Leith, father, W. Knox Henderson, father
Date of Certificate	18 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. Jupp

18 May 1915

Victor Hugh Robinson
Edith Florence Sheppard

Victor Hugh Robinson
Edith Florence Sheppard
💍 1915/2543

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Engineer
Milliner

32
27

Invercargill
Invercargill

2 days
27 years

Presbyterian Church, Ness St, Invercargill

15/4273

18 May 1915

Rev. J. W. Shaw

No	84
Date of Notice	18 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Victor Hugh Robinson	Edith Florence Sheppard
	💍 1915/2543
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Engineer	Milliner
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Ness St, Invercargill
Folio	15/4273
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. W. Shaw

18 May 1915

John Chilewell
Annie Louise Giller

John Chilwell
Annie Louise Gillen
💍 1915/2416

Bachelor
Spinster

Factory Manager
Domestic duties

40
21

Invercargill
Invercargill

6 weeks
18 months

Residence of Tom Giller, Gladstone, Invercargill

4321

18 May 1915

Rev. S. W. Burridge

No	85
Date of Notice	18 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Chilewell	Annie Louise Giller
BDM Match (94%)	John Chilwell	Annie Louise Gillen
	💍 1915/2416
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Factory Manager	Domestic duties
Age	40	21
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	6 weeks	18 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Tom Giller, Gladstone, Invercargill
Folio	4321
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 May 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. W. Burridge

19 May 1915

Henry Edward Gibbs
Ellen Roberts

Henry Edward Gibbs
Ellen Roberts
💍 1915/2376

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Housekeeper

37
47

Grassmere, Invercargill
Grassmere, Invercargill

10 years
14 years

Registrar's Office, Invercargill

4233

19 May 1915

Registrar

No	86
Date of Notice	19 May 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Edward Gibbs	Ellen Roberts
	💍 1915/2376
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Housekeeper
Age	37	47
Dwelling Place	Grassmere, Invercargill	Grassmere, Invercargill
Length of Residence	10 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Invercargill
Folio	4233
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 May 1915
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).