Intentions to Marry, 1923 Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840519, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1923 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.

1923e contains pages 3085-3502, covering districts from Dunstan to Chatham Islands

Page 3390

District of Invercargill Quarter ending 30 September 1923 Registrar J. McFarlane

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

130

5 July 1923

Arthur William Cowley
Bella Morris

Arthur William Cowley
Bella Morriss
💍 1923/5709

Widower
Widow

Land agent

46
44

Invercargill
Invercargill

40 years
15 months

Residence of Mrs. Morris, 48 Earnslaw Street, Invercargill

7342

5 July 1923

Com. R. Simpson, Salvation Army

No	130
Date of Notice	5 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur William Cowley	Bella Morris
BDM Match (96%)	Arthur William Cowley	Bella Morriss
	💍 1923/5709
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Land agent
Age	46	44
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	40 years	15 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Morris, 48 Earnslaw Street, Invercargill
Folio	7342
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Com. R. Simpson, Salvation Army

131

9 July 1923

John Stanton Shepherd
Lucy Sparke

John Stanton Shepherd
Lucy Sparke
💍 1923/5710

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

27
21

Pisbury
Woodend

27 years
9 years

Presbyterian Church, Woodend

7343

9 July 1923

Rev. H. G. Gilbert, Presbyterian

No	131
Date of Notice	9 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Stanton Shepherd	Lucy Sparke
	💍 1923/5710
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Pisbury	Woodend
Length of Residence	27 years	9 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Woodend
Folio	7343
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Gilbert, Presbyterian

132

9 July 1923

Henry Ernest Hughes
Agnes Matilda Church

Henry Ernest Hughes
Agnes Matilda Church
💍 1923/5711

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger

21
20

Invercargill
Longbush

11 years
10 years

First Church, Invercargill

7344

9 July 1923

Rev. J. H. Robinson, Presbyterian

No	132
Date of Notice	9 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Ernest Hughes	Agnes Matilda Church
	💍 1923/5711
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Longbush
Length of Residence	11 years	10 years
Marriage Place	First Church, Invercargill
Folio	7344
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Robinson, Presbyterian

133

9 July 1923

Henry Wills
Lallie Newton

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

23
23

Invercargill
Invercargill

1 day
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill

7345

9 July 1923

Rev. J. Martin, Roman Catholic

No	133
Date of Notice	9 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Wills	Lallie Newton
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Invercargill
Length of Residence	1 day	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill
Folio	7345
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Martin, Roman Catholic

134

9 July 1923

William Young Bayne
Susan Mealpine Ritchie

William Young Bayne
Susan McAlpine Ritchie
💍 1923/5714

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheepfarmer

36
39

Birchwood
Invercargill

7 years
39 years

First Church, Invercargill

7346

9 July 1923

Rev. J. H. Robinson, Presbyterian

No	134
Date of Notice	9 July 1923
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Young Bayne	Susan Mealpine Ritchie
BDM Match (95%)	William Young Bayne	Susan McAlpine Ritchie
	💍 1923/5714
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheepfarmer
Age	36	39
Dwelling Place	Birchwood	Invercargill
Length of Residence	7 years	39 years
Marriage Place	First Church, Invercargill
Folio	7346
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1923
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. Robinson, Presbyterian

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).