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 422

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

127

27 March 1905

George William Hill
Elizabeth Johnston

George William Hill
Elizabeth Johnston
💍 1905/6342

Bachelor
Spinster

Boot-finisher

21 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

12 years
3 years

In the house of the Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Fernhill Street, Dunedin

05/1398

27 March 1905

W. A. Sinclair

No	127
Date of Notice	27 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George William Hill	Elizabeth Johnston
	💍 1905/6342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boot-finisher
Age	21 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	12 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of the Rev. W. A. Sinclair, Fernhill Street, Dunedin
Folio	05/1398
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1905
Officiating Minister	W. A. Sinclair

128

27 March 1905

Frederick Henry Trevellian
Harriett Green

Frederick Henry Trevellian
Harriett Green
💍 1905/5037

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

21 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

18 months
6 months

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

05/1316

27 March 1905

H. Maxwell

No	128
Date of Notice	27 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Henry Trevellian	Harriett Green
	💍 1905/5037
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	21 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	18 months	6 months
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	05/1316
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1905
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

129

27 March 1905

Charles Stewart
Caroline Smith

Charles Stewart
Caroline Smith
💍 1905/5038

Widower
Spinster

Boilermaker

49 years
38 years

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

13 years
2 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

05/1317

27 March 1905

H. Maxwell

No	129
Date of Notice	27 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Stewart	Caroline Smith
	💍 1905/5038
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Boilermaker
Age	49 years	38 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	13 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	05/1317
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1905
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

130

28 March 1905

Thomas Miller
Elizabeth Myra Lyon

Thomas Miller
Elizabeth Myra Lyon
💍 1905/6279

Bachelor
Spinster

Packer

25 years
28 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 years
28 years

In St. Matthew's Church, Dunedin

05/1331

28 March 1905

W. Curzon-Siggers

No	130
Date of Notice	28 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Miller	Elizabeth Myra Lyon
	💍 1905/6279
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Packer
Age	25 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 years	28 years
Marriage Place	In St. Matthew's Church, Dunedin
Folio	05/1331
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1905
Officiating Minister	W. Curzon-Siggers

131

28 March 1905

Henry Porter
Jessie Ward

Henry Porter
Jessie Ward
💍 1905/6350

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

21 years
25 years

Dunedin
Mornington

12 months
5 years

In the house of Mrs. Mary Douglas, 1 Clyde Avenue, Dunedin

05/1409

28 March 1905

W. Laycock

No	131
Date of Notice	28 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Porter	Jessie Ward
	💍 1905/6350
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	21 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Mornington
Length of Residence	12 months	5 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Mary Douglas, 1 Clyde Avenue, Dunedin
Folio	05/1409
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1905
Officiating Minister	W. Laycock

132

28 March 1905

Arthur John Evans
Laura Stonebridge

Arthur John Evans
Laura Stonebridge
💍 1905/916

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

39 years
28 years

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

29 years
10 years

In St. Peter's Church, Caversham

05/3226

28 March 1905

B. U. King

No	132
Date of Notice	28 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John Evans	Laura Stonebridge
	💍 1905/916
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	39 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	29 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In St. Peter's Church, Caversham
Folio	05/3226
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1905
Officiating Minister	B. U. King

133

29 March 1905

James Christie
Clara Jane Moore

James Christie
Clara Jane Moore
💍 1905/299

James Currie
Isabella Moore
💍 1905/2855

Bachelor
Spinster

Land & Estate Agent
Typist

26 years
20 years

St. Kilda
St. Kilda

12 months
18 months

In the Presbyterian Church, South Dunedin

05/3357

Robert Moore, father

29 March 1905

F. W. Boreham

No	133
Date of Notice	29 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Christie	Clara Jane Moore
	💍 1905/299
BDM Match (61%)	James Currie	Isabella Moore
	💍 1905/2855
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Land & Estate Agent	Typist
Age	26 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	St. Kilda	St. Kilda
Length of Residence	12 months	18 months
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, South Dunedin
Folio	05/3357
Consent	Robert Moore, father
Date of Certificate	29 March 1905
Officiating Minister	F. W. Boreham

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).