Intentions to Marry, 1922 Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840511, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1922 is bound in eight volumes (a to h) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1922h contains pages 2981-3386, covering districts from Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Page 3280

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 1922 Registrar H. 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

129

24 July 1922

Joseph Muir
Nelly Taylor

Joseph Muir
Nelly Taylor
💍 1922/8262

William Joseph Taylor
Nellie Taylor
💍 1922/3779

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Shop Assistant

34
28

Invercargill
Invercargill

34 years
6 years

Residence of Rev. H. A. Sharp, 224 Spey Street, Invercargill

6977

24 July 1922

H. A. Sharp, Methodist

No	129
Date of Notice	24 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Muir	Nelly Taylor
	💍 1922/8262
BDM Match (61%)	William Joseph Taylor	Nellie Taylor
	💍 1922/3779
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Shop Assistant
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	34 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. H. A. Sharp, 224 Spey Street, Invercargill
Folio	6977
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1922
Officiating Minister	H. A. Sharp, Methodist

130

28 July 1922

Thomas William Cockeram
Elizabeth Duncan Steel

Thomas William Cockeram
Elizabeth Duncan Steel
💍 1922/8263

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

35
24

Underwood
West Plains

3 years
24 years

Presbyterian Church, Waikiwi

6978

28 July 1922

W. J. Robertson, Presbyterian

No	130
Date of Notice	28 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Cockeram	Elizabeth Duncan Steel
	💍 1922/8263
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Underwood	West Plains
Length of Residence	3 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Waikiwi
Folio	6978
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 July 1922
Officiating Minister	W. J. Robertson, Presbyterian

131

29 July 1922

Frank Blackler
Frances Margaret Tait

Frank Blackler
Frances Margaret Tait
💍 1922/8264

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm labourer
Domestic

21
19

Home
Ryal Bush

9 years
19 years

Presbyterian Church, Ryal Bush

6979

Robert Richard Tait, father

29 July 1922

W. W. French, Presbyterian

No	131
Date of Notice	29 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Blackler	Frances Margaret Tait
	💍 1922/8264
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm labourer	Domestic
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Home	Ryal Bush
Length of Residence	9 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Ryal Bush
Folio	6979
Consent	Robert Richard Tait, father
Date of Certificate	29 July 1922
Officiating Minister	W. W. French, Presbyterian

132

31 July 1922

John William Cook
Mary Christina Fleming Scott

John William Cook
Mary Christina Fleming Scott
💍 1922/8265

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmiller
Servant

24
33

Longbush
Longbush

3 weeks
2 weeks

Residence of Mr. G. Cook, Longbush

6980

31 July 1922

J. G. Cook, Presbyterian

No	132
Date of Notice	31 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Cook	Mary Christina Fleming Scott
	💍 1922/8265
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmiller	Servant
Age	24	33
Dwelling Place	Longbush	Longbush
Length of Residence	3 weeks	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. G. Cook, Longbush
Folio	6980
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1922
Officiating Minister	J. G. Cook, Presbyterian

133

31 July 1922

Thomas Joseph Breen
Annie Elizabeth Meehan

Thomas Joseph Breen
Annie Elizabeth Meehan
💍 1922/8266

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

20
23

Invercargill
Waianiwa

4 days
10 years

Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill

6981

31 July 1922

J. Martin, Roman Catholic

No	133
Date of Notice	31 July 1922
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Joseph Breen	Annie Elizabeth Meehan
	💍 1922/8266
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	20	23
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Waianiwa
Length of Residence	4 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Tyne Street, Invercargill
Folio	6981
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 July 1922
Officiating Minister	J. Martin, Roman Catholic

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).