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 478

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 December 1905

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

467

18 October 1905

John Henry Graham
Catherine Chisholm

John Henry Graham
Catherine Chisholm
💍 1905/4311

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach-builder

42 years
35 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the house of Mr. McDonald, Grosvenor Street, Caversham

05/6835

18 October 1905

Jas: Chisholm

No	467
Date of Notice	18 October 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Graham	Catherine Chisholm
	💍 1905/4311
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach-builder
Age	42 years	35 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. McDonald, Grosvenor Street, Caversham
Folio	05/6835
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 October 1905
Officiating Minister	Jas: Chisholm

468

18 October 1905

John Brown
Isabella Condy Brown

John Brown
Isabella Condy Brown
💍 1905/4302

John Cameron
Isabella Brown
💍 1905/4333

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Saleswoman

24 years
31 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

15 years
26 years

In the house of Mr. John Brown, 175 Cumberland Street, Dunedin

05/6812

18 October 1905

T. Nisbet

No	468
Date of Notice	18 October 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Brown	Isabella Condy Brown
	💍 1905/4302
BDM Match (64%)	John Cameron	Isabella Brown
	💍 1905/4333
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Saleswoman
Age	24 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	15 years	26 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. John Brown, 175 Cumberland Street, Dunedin
Folio	05/6812
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 October 1905
Officiating Minister	T. Nisbet

469

18 October 1905

William Austin Little
Margaret Campbell

William Austin Little
Margaret Campbell
💍 1905/4210

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

27 years
27 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

18 months
3 years

In St. Peter's Church, Caversham

05/6778

18 October 1905

B. M. King

No	469
Date of Notice	18 October 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Austin Little	Margaret Campbell
	💍 1905/4210
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	27 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	18 months	3 years
Marriage Place	In St. Peter's Church, Caversham
Folio	05/6778
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 October 1905
Officiating Minister	B. M. King

470

19 October 1905

Thomas McCarten
Elizabeth McKenzie

Thomas McCarten
Elizabeth McKenzie
💍 1905/4325

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrician
Dressmaker

21 years
20 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
20 years

In St. Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin

05/6848

Mary Mother McKenzie

19 October 1905

J. Coffey

No	470
Date of Notice	19 October 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas McCarten	Elizabeth McKenzie
	💍 1905/4325
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrician	Dressmaker
Age	21 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	05/6848
Consent	Mary Mother McKenzie
Date of Certificate	19 October 1905
Officiating Minister	J. Coffey

471

20 October 1905

George Stanley Jones
Mary Victoria Lilian Pullin

George Stanley Jones
Mary Victoria Lilian Pullin
💍 1905/4380

Bachelor
Spinster

Bedstead maker

25 years
24 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

6 months
3 days

In the house of Rev. Wm. Hay, 95 Union Street, Dunedin

05/6898

20 October 1905

Wm. Hay

No	471
Date of Notice	20 October 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Stanley Jones	Mary Victoria Lilian Pullin
	💍 1905/4380
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bedstead maker
Age	25 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 months	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. Wm. Hay, 95 Union Street, Dunedin
Folio	05/6898
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1905
Officiating Minister	Wm. Hay

472

20 October 1905

George Ferris Smith
Constance Jane Hughes

George Ferris Smith
Constance Jane Hughes
💍 1905/4284

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Dressmaker

26 years
26 years

West Harbour
Dunedin

3 months
26 years

In the house of Rev. Wm. Saunders, 2 View Street, Dunedin

05/6892

20 October 1905

Wm. Saunders

No	472
Date of Notice	20 October 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Ferris Smith	Constance Jane Hughes
	💍 1905/4284
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Dressmaker
Age	26 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	West Harbour	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 months	26 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. Wm. Saunders, 2 View Street, Dunedin
Folio	05/6892
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1905
Officiating Minister	Wm. Saunders

473

21 October 1905

Andrew Rennie
Ann Taylor

Andrew Rennie
Ann Taylor
💍 1905/4283

Bachelor
Widow

Dredgehand

38 years
37 years

Mornington
Mornington

3 days
3 days

In the house of Mr. R. Rae, Catherine Street, Mornington

05/6891

21 October 1905

Wm. Saunders

No	473
Date of Notice	21 October 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Rennie	Ann Taylor
	💍 1905/4283
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Dredgehand
Age	38 years	37 years
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Mornington
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. R. Rae, Catherine Street, Mornington
Folio	05/6891
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1905
Officiating Minister	Wm. Saunders

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).