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 412

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1905 Registrar Henry Maxwell

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

13 February 1905

George Jenkins
Hannah Schofield

George Jenkins
Hannah Schofield
💍 1905/922

Widower
Widow

Gardiner

65 years
55 years

Mornington
South Dunedin

4 years
3 days

In the house of Mrs. Dorothy Matheson, Lawrence Street, Mornington

05/3256

13 February 1905

R. Waddell

No	57
Date of Notice	13 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Jenkins	Hannah Schofield
	💍 1905/922
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Gardiner
Age	65 years	55 years
Dwelling Place	Mornington	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Dorothy Matheson, Lawrence Street, Mornington
Folio	05/3256
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1905
Officiating Minister	R. Waddell

13 February 1905

William Hall
Matilda Adamson

William Hall
Matilda Adamson
💍 1905/6280

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

36 years
24 years

North East Valley
Maori Hill

10 years
3 years

In the house of Mr. Thomas Hall, David Street, Caversham

05/1332

13 February 1905

D. Dutton

No	58
Date of Notice	13 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hall	Matilda Adamson
	💍 1905/6280
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	Maori Hill
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Thomas Hall, David Street, Caversham
Folio	05/1332
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1905
Officiating Minister	D. Dutton

14 February 1905

George Gordon Woodhouse
Emily Josephine Thompson

George Gordon Woodhouse
Emily Josephine Thompson
💍 1905/6288

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

32 years
18 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the house of Mr. James Barclay, Main Road, North East Valley

05/1340

William Thompson, Father

14 February 1905

G. W. Harding

No	59
Date of Notice	14 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Gordon Woodhouse	Emily Josephine Thompson
	💍 1905/6288
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	32 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. James Barclay, Main Road, North East Valley
Folio	05/1340
Consent	William Thompson, Father
Date of Certificate	14 February 1905
Officiating Minister	G. W. Harding

14 February 1905

William James Masters
Catherine Hall McKenzie

William James Masters
Catherine Hall McKenzie
💍 1905/6326

Bachelor
Spinster

Dredge hand

31 years
24 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
7 weeks

In the house of Miss Margaret Viney, 12 Ellis Street, Dunedin

05/1385

14 February 1905

D. A. Hosking

No	60
Date of Notice	14 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Masters	Catherine Hall McKenzie
	💍 1905/6326
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dredge hand
Age	31 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	7 weeks
Marriage Place	In the house of Miss Margaret Viney, 12 Ellis Street, Dunedin
Folio	05/1385
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1905
Officiating Minister	D. A. Hosking

14 February 1905

Alexander Murdoch Dackers
Harriett Louisa Chandler

Alexander Murdoch Dackers
Harriett Louisa Chandler
💍 1905/5024

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

28 years
20 years

Caversham
Caversham

3 days
3 weeks

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

05/1304

William Chandler, Father

14 February 1905

H. Maxwell

No	61
Date of Notice	14 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Murdoch Dackers	Harriett Louisa Chandler
	💍 1905/5024
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	28 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	05/1304
Consent	William Chandler, Father
Date of Certificate	14 February 1905
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

14 February 1905

James Stewart
Margaret Hannah Sutherland

James Stewart
Margaret Hannah Sutherland
💍 1905/6348

Bachelor
Spinster

Moulder

29 years
24 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
15 months

In the house of Mr. Wm. Laycock, 53 Dundas Street, Dunedin

05/1407

14 February 1905

Wm. Laycock

No	62
Date of Notice	14 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Stewart	Margaret Hannah Sutherland
	💍 1905/6348
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Moulder
Age	29 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	15 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Wm. Laycock, 53 Dundas Street, Dunedin
Folio	05/1407
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Wm. Laycock

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).