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 170

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 30 September 1905 Registrar A. Andrews

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

684

19 July 1905

John Samuel Ellis
Rachel Coulter

John Samuel Ellis
Rachel Coulter
💍 1905/2266

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

24
21

Rangitata
Rangitata

2 years
2 years

The House of Rachel Coulter, Rangitata

05/4765

19 July 1905

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	684
Date of Notice	19 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Samuel Ellis	Rachel Coulter
	💍 1905/2266
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Rangitata	Rangitata
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The House of Rachel Coulter, Rangitata
Folio	05/4765
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

685

12 August 1905

Robert Guilford
Annie Elizabeth Greenall

Robert Guilford
Annie Elizabeth Greenall
💍 1905/2269

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

32
22

Washimomoona
Pleasant Valley

6 months
5 years

St. Ann's Church, Pleasant Valley

05/4768

12 August 1905

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	685
Date of Notice	12 August 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Guilford	Annie Elizabeth Greenall
	💍 1905/2269
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Washimomoona	Pleasant Valley
Length of Residence	6 months	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Ann's Church, Pleasant Valley
Folio	05/4768
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

686

14 August 1905

Edward John Prouting
Margaret Emily Geraldine Andrews

Edward John Prouting
Margaret Emily Geraldine Andrews
💍 1905/2270

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Teacher of Music

38
39

Geraldine
Geraldine

31 years
33 years

The House of Mr. George Prouting

05/4769

14 August 1905

Rev. George Henry Mann, Primitive Methodist

No	686
Date of Notice	14 August 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Prouting	Margaret Emily Geraldine Andrews
	💍 1905/2270
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Teacher of Music
Age	38	39
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	31 years	33 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. George Prouting
Folio	05/4769
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Henry Mann, Primitive Methodist

687

26 August 1905

Robert Meehan
Eliza Jane Pye

Robert Meechan
Eliza Jane Pye
💍 1905/2267

Bachelor
Widow

Physical Instructor
Domestic Duties

30
43

Geraldine
Geraldine

3 days
23 years

The House of Mrs. Eliza Jane Pye

05/4766

26 August 1905

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	687
Date of Notice	26 August 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Meehan	Eliza Jane Pye
BDM Match (96%)	Robert Meechan	Eliza Jane Pye
	💍 1905/2267
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Physical Instructor	Domestic Duties
Age	30	43
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mrs. Eliza Jane Pye
Folio	05/4766
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 August 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

688

16 September 1905

John Henry Stringer
Ellen Catherine Jones

John Henry Stringer
Ellen Catherine Jones
💍 1905/2271

Bachelor
Spinster

Agricultural Labourer
Domestic Servant

27
23

Geraldine
Kakahu Bush

27 years
23 years

The House of Mr. Edward Stringer

05/4770

16 September 1905

Rev. George Henry Mann, Primitive Methodist

No	688
Date of Notice	16 September 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Stringer	Ellen Catherine Jones
	💍 1905/2271
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agricultural Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Kakahu Bush
Length of Residence	27 years	23 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. Edward Stringer
Folio	05/4770
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 September 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Henry Mann, Primitive Methodist

689

22 September 1905

Benjamin Foster Shears
Elizabeth Hawke Quinn

Benjamin Cooke Shears
Elizabeth Hawke Quin
💍 1905/2268

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic Servant

30
24

Geraldine
Geraldine

3 years
20 years

Presbyterian Church

05/4767

22 September 1905

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	689
Date of Notice	22 September 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Foster Shears	Elizabeth Hawke Quinn
BDM Match (89%)	Benjamin Cooke Shears	Elizabeth Hawke Quin
	💍 1905/2268
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic Servant
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	05/4767
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 September 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

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).