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 718

District of Otepopo Quarter ending 31 December 1905 Registrar Jas. Fleming

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

269

8 November 1905

John McKay
Elizabeth Paterson

John McKay
Elizabeth Paterson
💍 1905/4516

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

25
19

Herbert
Otepopo

25 years
19 years

Residence of Mrs. George Paterson, Otepopo

05/7036

Mrs. George Paterson, Mother

8 November 1905

Rev. William Nichol, Presbyterian, Hampden

No	269
Date of Notice	8 November 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McKay	Elizabeth Paterson
	💍 1905/4516
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Herbert	Otepopo
Length of Residence	25 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. George Paterson, Otepopo
Folio	05/7036
Consent	Mrs. George Paterson, Mother
Date of Certificate	8 November 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Nichol, Presbyterian, Hampden

270

25 November 1905

Arthur John James
Jane Leckie

Arthur John James
Janie Leckie
💍 1905/4513

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman
Domestic duties

25
22

Maheno
Maheno

3 years
9 months

Residence of Mr. James Herbert

05/7033

25 November 1905

Rev. D. M. Foot, Presbyterian, Maheno

No	270
Date of Notice	25 November 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur John James	Jane Leckie
BDM Match (96%)	Arthur John James	Janie Leckie
	💍 1905/4513
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman	Domestic duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Maheno	Maheno
Length of Residence	3 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. James Herbert
Folio	05/7033
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 November 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. M. Foot, Presbyterian, Maheno

271

14 December 1905

Alfred Bertram Diehl
Helen Campbell

Alfred Bertram Drehl
Helen Campbell
💍 1905/4514

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

27
26

Herbert
Maheno

27 years
17 months

Residence of Mr. John Isdale, Island Stream

05/7034

14 December 1905

Rev. J. R. Shore, Presbyterian, Maheno

No	271
Date of Notice	14 December 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Bertram Diehl	Helen Campbell
BDM Match (98%)	Alfred Bertram Drehl	Helen Campbell
	💍 1905/4514
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Herbert	Maheno
Length of Residence	27 years	17 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. John Isdale, Island Stream
Folio	05/7034
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 December 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Shore, Presbyterian, Maheno

272

16 December 1905

Hugh McKenzie
Nellie Hill

Hugh McKenzie
Nellie Hill
💍 1905/4493

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

28
21

Allday Bay
Otepopo

28 years
21 years

Salvation Army Barracks, Herbert

05/7037

16 December 1905

Francis Cumming, Major, Salvation Army

No	272
Date of Notice	16 December 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh McKenzie	Nellie Hill
	💍 1905/4493
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Allday Bay	Otepopo
Length of Residence	28 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Barracks, Herbert
Folio	05/7037
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 December 1905
Officiating Minister	Francis Cumming, Major, Salvation Army

273

18 December 1905

Alexander Grant
Martha Robb

Alexander Grant
Martha Robb
💍 1905/4515

Bachelor
Spinster

Ploughman
Domestic duties

23
24

Inchholme
Inchholme

18 months
13 years

Residence of Mr. W. B. Robb, Inchholme

05/7035

18 December 1905

Rev. J. R. Shore, Presbyterian, Maheno

No	273
Date of Notice	18 December 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Grant	Martha Robb
	💍 1905/4515
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ploughman	Domestic duties
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Inchholme	Inchholme
Length of Residence	18 months	13 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. W. B. Robb, Inchholme
Folio	05/7035
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 December 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Shore, Presbyterian, Maheno

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).