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 730

District of Popotunoa Quarter ending 30 June 1905 Registrar H. G. Clifford

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

15 April 1905

David Thacker
Sarah Milligan

David Dacker
Sarah Milligan
💍 1905/1107

Bachelor
Spinster

Miller
Domestic duties

30
24

Waipahi
Waipahi

6 days
5 days

In the dwelling house of John Fowler, Milligan, Waipahi

05/3492

15 April 1905

Rev. Adam Begg, Presbyterian

No	3
Date of Notice	15 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Thacker	Sarah Milligan
BDM Match (92%)	David Dacker	Sarah Milligan
	💍 1905/1107
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miller	Domestic duties
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Waipahi	Waipahi
Length of Residence	6 days	5 days
Marriage Place	In the dwelling house of John Fowler, Milligan, Waipahi
Folio	05/3492
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. Adam Begg, Presbyterian

19 April 1905

Sydney John German
Edith Anne Steel

Sydney John German
Edith Anne Steel
💍 1905/1108

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

36
37

Clinton
Clinton

8 years
7 years

St. Peter's Church, Clinton

05/3493

19 April 1905

Rev. T. Dodd, Church of England

No	4
Date of Notice	19 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney John German	Edith Anne Steel
	💍 1905/1108
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	36	37
Dwelling Place	Clinton	Clinton
Length of Residence	8 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Peter's Church, Clinton
Folio	05/3493
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Dodd, Church of England

20 April 1905

James Alexander Allen
Janet Chalmers

James Alexander Allen
Janet Chalmers
💍 1905/2635

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic duties

28
31

Invercargill
Waimahora South

1 year
1 month

Robert Chalmers Residence, Waimahora South

05/5700

20 April 1905

Rev. T. Dunlop D.D., Presbyterian

No	5
Date of Notice	20 April 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alexander Allen	Janet Chalmers
	💍 1905/2635
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic duties
Age	28	31
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Waimahora South
Length of Residence	1 year	1 month
Marriage Place	Robert Chalmers Residence, Waimahora South
Folio	05/5700
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Dunlop D.D., Presbyterian

18 June 1905

James Speirs
Williamina Hay Hardie

James Speirs
Williamina Hay Hardie
💍 1905/1109

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

33
25

Waimahora South
Waimahora South

33 years
15 years

In the dwelling house of Mrs. Speirs, Waimahora South

05/3494

18 June 1905

Rev. T. Macallister, Presbyterian

No	6
Date of Notice	18 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Speirs	Williamina Hay Hardie
	💍 1905/1109
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Waimahora South	Waimahora South
Length of Residence	33 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In the dwelling house of Mrs. Speirs, Waimahora South
Folio	05/3494
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Macallister, Presbyterian

21 June 1905

Robert William Gypson
Mary Gillison Paterson

Robert William Ayson
Mary Gillieson Paterson
💍 1905/1110

Bachelor
Spinster

Motorman
Domestic duties

33
24

Kaihiku
Kaihiku

3 days
24 years

Presbyterian Church, Kaihiku

05/3495

21 June 1905

Rev. J. Gordon Orr, Presbyterian

No	7
Date of Notice	21 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert William Gypson	Mary Gillison Paterson
BDM Match (93%)	Robert William Ayson	Mary Gillieson Paterson
	💍 1905/1110
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motorman	Domestic duties
Age	33	24
Dwelling Place	Kaihiku	Kaihiku
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Kaihiku
Folio	05/3495
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Gordon Orr, 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 1908. 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).