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 524

District of East Taieri Quarter ending 30 September 1905 Registrar Gilbert Burness Burns

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

5 July 1905

David Neilson Johnston
Maggie Ann Forsyth Campbell

David Neilson Johnston
Maggie Ann Forsyth Campbell
💍 1905/2788

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Shunter

23
24

Janefield, Otago
Janefield, Otago

4 days
3 years

Presbyterian Church, Mosgiel, Otago

05/5251

5 July 1905

Rev. J. M. McKerrow

No	20
Date of Notice	5 July 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Neilson Johnston	Maggie Ann Forsyth Campbell
	💍 1905/2788
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Shunter
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Janefield, Otago	Janefield, Otago
Length of Residence	4 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	05/5251
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. McKerrow

8 August 1905

Michael Nolan
Jeannie Agnes Black

Michael Nolan
Jeannie Agnes Black
💍 1905/2791

Bachelor
Spinster

Platelayer

36
22

Allanton, Otago
Allanton, Otago

3 days
22 years

Roman Catholic Church, Allanton, Otago

05/5254

8 August 1905

Rev. James Liston

No	21
Date of Notice	8 August 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Nolan	Jeannie Agnes Black
	💍 1905/2791
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Platelayer
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Allanton, Otago	Allanton, Otago
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Allanton, Otago
Folio	05/5254
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Liston

11 August 1905

John Henry Ludwig Windelburn
Margaret Ann Dickie Robertson

John Henry Ludwig Windelburn
Margaret Ann Dickie Robertson
💍 1905/2789

Bachelor
Spinster

Dairyman

34
22

Mosgiel, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

1 month
21 years

Presbyterian Church, Mosgiel, Otago

05/5252

11 August 1905

Rev. J. M. McKerrow

No	22
Date of Notice	11 August 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Ludwig Windelburn	Margaret Ann Dickie Robertson
	💍 1905/2789
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dairyman
Age	34	22
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	1 month	21 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	05/5252
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. McKerrow

28 August 1905

Thomas Adam Irving
Jane May Law

Thomas Adam Irving
Jane May Law
💍 1905/4607

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Household duties

23
20

Allanton, Otago
East Taieri, Otago

23 years
20 years

House of Robert Law, East Taieri, Otago

05/7203

Robert Law, Father

28 August 1905

Rev. A. W. Kinmont

No	23
Date of Notice	28 August 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Adam Irving	Jane May Law
	💍 1905/4607
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Household duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Allanton, Otago	East Taieri, Otago
Length of Residence	23 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Robert Law, East Taieri, Otago
Folio	05/7203
Consent	Robert Law, Father
Date of Certificate	28 August 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Kinmont

19 September 1905

Victor Emanuel McBune
Alexanderina Buick

Victor Emanuel McCune
Alexandrina Buick
💍 1905/2790

Bachelor
Widow

Fruiterer

30
27

Mosgiel, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

3 months
9 days

House of Victor Emanuel McBune, Mosgiel, Otago

05/5253

19 September 1905

Rev. J. M. McKerrow

No	24
Date of Notice	19 September 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Victor Emanuel McBune	Alexanderina Buick
BDM Match (95%)	Victor Emanuel McCune	Alexandrina Buick
	💍 1905/2790
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Fruiterer
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	3 months	9 days
Marriage Place	House of Victor Emanuel McBune, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	05/5253
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 September 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. McKerrow

29 September 1905

Hugh Boyd
Una McLean

Hugh Boyd
Una McLean
💍 1905/4475

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep farmer
Domestic

39
27

North Taieri, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

39 years
12 years

House of Neil McLean, Church Street, Mosgiel, Otago

05/7069

29 September 1905

Rev. L. Thompson

No	25
Date of Notice	29 September 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Boyd	Una McLean
	💍 1905/4475
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep farmer	Domestic
Age	39	27
Dwelling Place	North Taieri, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	39 years	12 years
Marriage Place	House of Neil McLean, Church Street, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	05/7069
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 September 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Thompson

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).