Intentions to Marry, 1905 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840429, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1905 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1905a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1905b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1905c).

Page 022

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 September 1905 Registrar William Winsbury White

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

1 July 1905

Michael Sewell
Alice Whiting

Michael Sewell
Alice Whiting
💍 1905/2370

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

23
20

Mayfield
Mayfield

14 years
6 years

Wesleyan Church at Mayfield

05/4803

William Whiting, father of Minor

1 July 1905

Rev. Harold Purchas, B.A.

No	47
Date of Notice	1 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Sewell	Alice Whiting
	💍 1905/2370
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Mayfield	Mayfield
Length of Residence	14 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church at Mayfield
Folio	05/4803
Consent	William Whiting, father of Minor
Date of Certificate	1 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Harold Purchas, B.A.

4 July 1905

Samuel Bennett
Margaret Mary Wilson

Samuel Bennett
Margaret Wilson
💍 1905/2209

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Laborer
domestic duties

29
24

Riverside, Wakanui
Riverside, Wakanui

3 months
24 years

Registrar's Office, Ashburton

05/4606

4 July 1905

W. W. White, Registrar

No	48
Date of Notice	4 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Bennett	Margaret Mary Wilson
BDM Match (88%)	Samuel Bennett	Margaret Wilson
	💍 1905/2209
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Laborer	domestic duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Riverside, Wakanui	Riverside, Wakanui
Length of Residence	3 months	24 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Ashburton
Folio	05/4606
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1905
Officiating Minister	W. W. White, Registrar

15 July 1905

John Campbell
Eleano Ovington Doyle

John Campbell
Celeanoe Ovington Doyle
💍 1905/2208

Bachelor
Spinster

School Teacher
domestic duties

29
20

Tinwald
Ashburton

5 years
3 years

The dwelling of Samuel Campbell, Doyle, N.E. Belt, Netherby

05/4589

Samuel Campbell Doyle, father of minor

15 July 1905

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	49
Date of Notice	15 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Campbell	Eleano Ovington Doyle
BDM Match (94%)	John Campbell	Celeanoe Ovington Doyle
	💍 1905/2208
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	School Teacher	domestic duties
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Tinwald	Ashburton
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling of Samuel Campbell, Doyle, N.E. Belt, Netherby
Folio	05/4589
Consent	Samuel Campbell Doyle, father of minor
Date of Certificate	15 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

18 July 1905

Edward George Lovett
Mary Annell

Edward George Lovett
Mary Jane Annett
💍 1905/2193

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Laborer
domestic duties

37
25

Surrey Hills
Hinds

4 days
15 months

The dwelling of William Annell at Hinds

05/4598

18 July 1905

Rev. J. C. Paterson, M.A.

No	50
Date of Notice	18 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward George Lovett	Mary Annell
BDM Match (78%)	Edward George Lovett	Mary Jane Annett
	💍 1905/2193
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Laborer	domestic duties
Age	37	25
Dwelling Place	Surrey Hills	Hinds
Length of Residence	4 days	15 months
Marriage Place	The dwelling of William Annell at Hinds
Folio	05/4598
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Paterson, M.A.

1 August 1905

Edmund Manchester
Maggie Fullarton Martin

Edmund Manchester
Maggie Fullarton Martin
💍 1905/2802

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
domestic duties

25
25

Ashburton
Carnarvon

3 years

The dwelling of James Martin at 55 Meadowbank, Carnarvon

05/5266

1 August 1905

Rev. R. J. Porter

No	51
Date of Notice	1 August 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund Manchester	Maggie Fullarton Martin
	💍 1905/2802
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	domestic duties
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Carnarvon
Length of Residence	3 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling of James Martin at 55 Meadowbank, Carnarvon
Folio	05/5266
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 August 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Porter

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 1903. 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).