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 415

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1905 Registrar James Taylor, Deputy Registrar

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

21 February 1905

Thomas Thwaites
Ellen Kavanagh

Thomas Thwaites
Ellen Kavanagh
💍 1905/6323

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist

28 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
2 years

In St. Joseph's Cathedral Vestry, Dunedin

05/1377

21 February 1905

Jas: O'Malley

No	77
Date of Notice	21 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Thwaites	Ellen Kavanagh
	💍 1905/6323
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist
Age	28 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Cathedral Vestry, Dunedin
Folio	05/1377
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Jas: O'Malley

21 February 1905

William Thomas Mason
Mabel Marion Ponton

William Thomas Mason
Mabel Marion Ponton
💍 1905/7236

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

20 years
19 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

20 years
19 years

In the house of Mrs Hannah Mason, 8 Harbour Terrace, Dunedin

05/1334

Hannah Mason, Mother and Thomas Ponton, Father

21 February 1905

John Dunlop

No	78
Date of Notice	21 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Mason	Mabel Marion Ponton
	💍 1905/7236
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	20 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	20 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Hannah Mason, 8 Harbour Terrace, Dunedin
Folio	05/1334
Consent	Hannah Mason, Mother and Thomas Ponton, Father
Date of Certificate	21 February 1905
Officiating Minister	John Dunlop

21 February 1905

Robert Anderson
Mary Ann Traynor

Robert Anderson
Mary Ann Traynor
💍 1905/6318

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

29 years
29 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

6 days
29 years

In the First Church, Dunedin

05/1349

21 February 1905

T. Nisbet

No	79
Date of Notice	21 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Anderson	Mary Ann Traynor
	💍 1905/6318
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	29 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 days	29 years
Marriage Place	In the First Church, Dunedin
Folio	05/1349
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1905
Officiating Minister	T. Nisbet

22 February 1905

Robert Andrew Nicol
Annie Hendy

Robert Andrew Nicol
Annie Hendy
💍 1905/6278

Bachelor
Spinster

Miller

26 years
26 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
1 year

In St. Matthew's Church, Dunedin

05/1330

22 February 1905

Francis Tubman

No	80
Date of Notice	22 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Andrew Nicol	Annie Hendy
	💍 1905/6278
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miller
Age	26 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	In St. Matthew's Church, Dunedin
Folio	05/1330
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1905
Officiating Minister	Francis Tubman

22 February 1905

James Tyrell
Isabella Truesdale

James Tyrrell
Isabella Truesdale
💍 1905/6292

Widower
Spinster

Tinsmith

31 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In St. Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin

05/1321

22 February 1905

C. G. Robinson

No	81
Date of Notice	22 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Tyrell	Isabella Truesdale
BDM Match (96%)	James Tyrrell	Isabella Truesdale
	💍 1905/6292
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Tinsmith
Age	31 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In St. Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	05/1321
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1905
Officiating Minister	C. G. Robinson

23 February 1905

Frederick Webber
Margaret Jones

Frederick Webber
Margaret Jones
💍 1905/2851

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Mill-hand

24 years
24 years

West Harbour
Roslyn

24 years
24 years

In the Kaikorai Presbyterian Church, Roslyn

05/4898

23 February 1905

R. R. M. Sutherland

No	82
Date of Notice	23 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Webber	Margaret Jones
	💍 1905/2851
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Mill-hand
Age	24 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	West Harbour	Roslyn
Length of Residence	24 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the Kaikorai Presbyterian Church, Roslyn
Folio	05/4898
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1905
Officiating Minister	R. R. M. Sutherland

23 February 1905

Henry James Quarterman
Jessie Eliza Hayes

Henry James Quarterman
Jessie Eliza Hayes
💍 1905/353

Bachelor
Spinster

Motorman

22 years
19 years

Dunedin
South Dunedin

22 years
2 years

In St. Patrick's Basilica, Dunedin

05/1384

John Hayes, father

23 February 1905

J. Coffey

No	83
Date of Notice	23 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Quarterman	Jessie Eliza Hayes
	💍 1905/353
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motorman
Age	22 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	22 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In St. Patrick's Basilica, Dunedin
Folio	05/1384
Consent	John Hayes, father
Date of Certificate	23 February 1905
Officiating Minister	J. Coffey

24 February 1905

William George Thompson
Jessie Allen

William George Thompson
Jessie Allen
💍 1905/306

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep farmer

25 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
6 months

In the house of Mr G. N. Westwood, Josephine Street, Caversham

05/3341

24 February 1905

W. Laycock

No	84
Date of Notice	24 February 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Thompson	Jessie Allen
	💍 1905/306
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep farmer
Age	25 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr G. N. Westwood, Josephine Street, Caversham
Folio	05/3341
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1905
Officiating Minister	W. Laycock

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).