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 745

District of Riverton Quarter ending 31 March 1905 Registrar James Milne Adam

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

687

4 January 1905

George Broomhall
Janet Elizabeth Bailey

George Broomhall
Janet Elizabeth Bailey
💍 1905/6367

widower
spinster

sawmill hand
housekeeper

34 years
39 years

Riverton
Riverton

3 days
about 18 years

Wesleyan Church, Riverton

05/1504

4 January 1905

Charles A Foston

No	687
Date of Notice	4 January 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Broomhall	Janet Elizabeth Bailey
	💍 1905/6367
Condition	widower	spinster
Profession	sawmill hand	housekeeper
Age	34 years	39 years
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	3 days	about 18 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Riverton
Folio	05/1504
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 January 1905
Officiating Minister	Charles A Foston

688

5 January 1905

George Henry Shirley
Sarah Ellen Johnston

George Henry Shirley
Sarah Ellen Johnston
💍 1905/484

bachelor
spinster

Enginedriver
domestic duties

22 years
20 years

Riverton late of Niagara
Riverton late of Niagara

10 days
10 days

Courthouse Riverton

05/1503

William Johnston Father

5 January 1905

Arthur Frederick Bent Registrar of Marriages

No	688
Date of Notice	5 January 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Shirley	Sarah Ellen Johnston
	💍 1905/484
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	Enginedriver	domestic duties
Age	22 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Riverton late of Niagara	Riverton late of Niagara
Length of Residence	10 days	10 days
Marriage Place	Courthouse Riverton
Folio	05/1503
Consent	William Johnston Father
Date of Certificate	5 January 1905
Officiating Minister	Arthur Frederick Bent Registrar of Marriages

689

11 January 1905

Thomas Reilly
Bridget McConnell

Thomas Reilly
Bridget McConnell
💍 1905/6386

bachelor
spinster

miner
domestic duties

43 years
40 years

Riverton usually St Bathans
Riverton

3 days
4 years

Roman Catholic Chapel Riverton

05/1507

11 January 1905

John Sheehan

No	689
Date of Notice	11 January 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Reilly	Bridget McConnell
	💍 1905/6386
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	miner	domestic duties
Age	43 years	40 years
Dwelling Place	Riverton usually St Bathans	Riverton
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel Riverton
Folio	05/1507
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1905
Officiating Minister	John Sheehan

690

4 February 1905

John Henry Thomas
Mabel Campbell

John Henry Thomas
Mabel Campbell
💍 1905/6378

John Henry Wallace
Margaret Isabel Campbell
💍 1905/1635

bachelor
spinster

Railway ganger
Domestic duties

31 years
22 years

Riverton formerly Kingston
Riverton formerly Invercargill

3 months
4 days

St Mary's Anglican Church Riverton

05/1505

4 February 1905

Arthur D Beavan

No	690
Date of Notice	4 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Thomas	Mabel Campbell
	💍 1905/6378
BDM Match (63%)	John Henry Wallace	Margaret Isabel Campbell
	💍 1905/1635
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	Railway ganger	Domestic duties
Age	31 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Riverton formerly Kingston	Riverton formerly Invercargill
Length of Residence	3 months	4 days
Marriage Place	St Mary's Anglican Church Riverton
Folio	05/1505
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Arthur D Beavan

691

13 February 1905

Ernest George Hunter
Mabel Ellen Kerridge

Ernest George Hunter
Mabel Ellen Kerridge
💍 1905/6385

bachelor
spinster

signalman
schoolteacher

27 years
20 years

late South Dunedin, now Riverton
Gummies Bush

3 days
2 months

St Marys anglican Church, Riverton

05/1506

27 February 1905

Arthur D. Beavan

No	691
Date of Notice	13 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest George Hunter	Mabel Ellen Kerridge
	💍 1905/6385
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	signalman	schoolteacher
Age	27 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	late South Dunedin, now Riverton	Gummies Bush
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	St Marys anglican Church, Riverton
Folio	05/1506
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Arthur D. Beavan

692

1 March 1905

Herbert Charles Sutton
Hanse Goodloe Faunt Le Roy

Herbert Charles Sutton
Hanse Goodloe Faunt Le Roy
💍 1905/6387

bachelor
widow

farmer
domestic duties

22 years
33 years

Thornbury
Thornbury formerly Pasorobles, California U.S.A.

about 22 years
about 4 months

Courthouse Riverton

05/1508

1 March 1905

Arthur Frederick Bent Registrar of Marriages

No	692
Date of Notice	1 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Charles Sutton	Hanse Goodloe Faunt Le Roy
	💍 1905/6387
Condition	bachelor	widow
Profession	farmer	domestic duties
Age	22 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Thornbury	Thornbury formerly Pasorobles, California U.S.A.
Length of Residence	about 22 years	about 4 months
Marriage Place	Courthouse Riverton
Folio	05/1508
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 March 1905
Officiating Minister	Arthur Frederick Bent Registrar of Marriages

693

15 March 1905

Henry Webb
Rose Roberts

Henry Webb
Elizabeth Roberts
💍 1905/1102

bachelor
spinster

trainer
Actress

23 years
21 years

Christchurch at present of Riverton
Ashburton at present of Riverton

4 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Chapel Riverton

05/3570

15 March 1905

John Sheehan

No	693
Date of Notice	15 March 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Webb	Rose Roberts
BDM Match (76%)	Henry Webb	Elizabeth Roberts
	💍 1905/1102
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	trainer	Actress
Age	23 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Christchurch at present of Riverton	Ashburton at present of Riverton
Length of Residence	4 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Chapel Riverton
Folio	05/3570
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1905
Officiating Minister	John Sheehan

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).