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 048

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1905 Registrar Lyonel Charles Williams

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

112

25 February 1905

Maximilian Marcus Herz
Jean Ethel Cohen

Maximillian Marcus Herz
Jane Ethel Cohen
💍 1905/6185

Bachelor
Spinster

Medical Practitioner

29
24

Christchurch
Bealey Avenue, Christchurch

11 months
14 days

House of Instruction, Christchurch

05/1163

25 February 1905

Rev. I. Zachariah, Hebrew

No	112
Date of Notice	25 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Maximilian Marcus Herz	Jean Ethel Cohen
BDM Match (92%)	Maximillian Marcus Herz	Jane Ethel Cohen
	💍 1905/6185
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Medical Practitioner
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Bealey Avenue, Christchurch
Length of Residence	11 months	14 days
Marriage Place	House of Instruction, Christchurch
Folio	05/1163
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Zachariah, Hebrew

113

25 February 1905

William James Allason
Lucy Leah Gardiner Humphreys

William James Allason
Lucy Leah Gardiner Humphries
💍 1905/4999

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

26
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

17 months
14 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

05/1021

25 February 1905

Registrar of Marriages, Christchurch

No	113
Date of Notice	25 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Allason	Lucy Leah Gardiner Humphreys
BDM Match (96%)	William James Allason	Lucy Leah Gardiner Humphries
	💍 1905/4999
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	26	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	17 months	14 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	05/1021
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Christchurch

114

27 February 1905

Henry Matthew Price
Ella Mary Duinen

Henry Matthew Price
Ella Mary Quinn
💍 1905/6129

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic

18
22

St. Albans
Sydenham

3 years
22 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery, Christchurch

05/1125

Price Johnson, father

27 February 1905

Rev. T. Leudesdorf, Roman Catholic

No	114
Date of Notice	27 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Matthew Price	Ella Mary Duinen
BDM Match (94%)	Henry Matthew Price	Ella Mary Quinn
	💍 1905/6129
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic
Age	18	22
Dwelling Place	St. Albans	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery, Christchurch
Folio	05/1125
Consent	Price Johnson, father
Date of Certificate	27 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Leudesdorf, Roman Catholic

115

27 February 1905

Evender Leith
Mabel Chambers

Elenor Leith
Mabel Chambers
💍 1905/6106

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Breaker
Domestic

33
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

28 years
18 years

St. Luke's, Christchurch

05/1077

27 February 1905

Rev. W. W. Sedgwick, Anglican

No	115
Date of Notice	27 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Evender Leith	Mabel Chambers
BDM Match (88%)	Elenor Leith	Mabel Chambers
	💍 1905/6106
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Breaker	Domestic
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	28 years	18 years
Marriage Place	St. Luke's, Christchurch
Folio	05/1077
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. W. Sedgwick, Anglican

116

27 February 1905

Matthew McDowell
Ann Constance Violet Barker

Matthew McDowell
Amy Constance Violet Barber
💍 1905/6138

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

31
23

Heathcote
Linwood

30 years
2 years

Methodist Church, High Street, Christchurch

05/1133

27 February 1905

Rev. J. J. Richard, Methodist

No	116
Date of Notice	27 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew McDowell	Ann Constance Violet Barker
BDM Match (94%)	Matthew McDowell	Amy Constance Violet Barber
	💍 1905/6138
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Heathcote	Linwood
Length of Residence	30 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, High Street, Christchurch
Folio	05/1133
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Richard, Methodist

117

27 February 1905

Albert Edward Patrick
Maud Sarah Moor

Albert Edward Pattrick
Maud Sarah Moore
💍 1905/668

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

24
23

Styx
Papanui

24 years
23 years

Methodist Church, St. Albans

05/2996

27 February 1905

Rev. W. C. Oliver, Methodist

No	117
Date of Notice	27 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Patrick	Maud Sarah Moor
BDM Match (95%)	Albert Edward Pattrick	Maud Sarah Moore
	💍 1905/668
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Styx	Papanui
Length of Residence	24 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, St. Albans
Folio	05/2996
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. C. Oliver, Methodist

118

28 February 1905

Arthur Ralph Phillips
Alice Ethel Crosbie

Arthur Ralph Phillips
Alice Mabel Crosbie
💍 1905/4977

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Governess

31
31

Templeton
Christchurch

26 years
31 years

Anglican Church, St. Albans

05/1056

28 February 1905

Rev. Canon Pascoe, Anglican

No	118
Date of Notice	28 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Ralph Phillips	Alice Ethel Crosbie
BDM Match (92%)	Arthur Ralph Phillips	Alice Mabel Crosbie
	💍 1905/4977
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Governess
Age	31	31
Dwelling Place	Templeton	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	31 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, St. Albans
Folio	05/1056
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Canon Pascoe, Anglican

119

28 February 1905

John Richard Fitzpatrick
Mary Flannery

John Richard Fitzpatrick
Mary Flannery
💍 1905/5000

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

32
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
8 days

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

05/1022

28 February 1905

Registrar of Marriages, Christchurch

No	119
Date of Notice	28 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Richard Fitzpatrick	Mary Flannery
	💍 1905/5000
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	32	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	8 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	05/1022
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Christchurch

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).