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 305

District of Waimate Quarter ending 30 June 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

2 May 1905

Michael O'Donnell
Annie Mellon

Michael O'Donnell
Annie Mellon
💍 1905/820

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman

32
24

Waimate
Waimate

4 years
3 months

Catholic Church Waimate

05/3127

2 May 1905

Rev. P. Regnault

No	12
Date of Notice	2 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael O'Donnell	Annie Mellon
	💍 1905/820
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Waimate	Waimate
Length of Residence	4 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Waimate
Folio	05/3127
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Regnault

2 May 1905

Matthew O'Driscoll
Mary Earl

Matthew O'Driscoll
Mary Earl
💍 1905/819

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
25

Pleasant Point
Makikihi

20 years
18 months

Catholic Church Makikihi

05/3126

4 May 1905

Rev. P. Regnault

No	13
Date of Notice	2 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew O'Driscoll	Mary Earl
	💍 1905/819
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Pleasant Point	Makikihi
Length of Residence	20 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Makikihi
Folio	05/3126
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Regnault

4 May 1905

John Johnston
Ellen Brown

John Johnston
Ellen Brown
💍 1905/797

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
22

Georgetown
Waimate

25 years
6 months

Presbyterian Church Waimate

05/3128

4 May 1905

Rev. P. Regnault

No	14
Date of Notice	4 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Johnston	Ellen Brown
	💍 1905/797
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Georgetown	Waimate
Length of Residence	25 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Waimate
Folio	05/3128
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Regnault

15 May 1905

Norman Gray
Isabel Lumsden

Norman Gray
Isabel Lumsden
💍 1905/806

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

27
26

Waimate
Waimate

3 years
2 years

Presbyterian Church Waimate

05/3137

15 May 1905

Rev. S. Morrison

No	15
Date of Notice	15 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman Gray	Isabel Lumsden
	💍 1905/806
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Waimate	Waimate
Length of Residence	3 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Waimate
Folio	05/3137
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Morrison

22 May 1905

William Ely Tooley
Amelia Grace Pinnell

William Ely Tooley
Amelia Grace Pinnell
💍 1905/799

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

26
22

Waimate
Waimate

25 years
20 years

Residence of Elisha Pinnell, Waimate

05/3130

22 May 1905

Rev. J. Sharp

No	16
Date of Notice	22 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ely Tooley	Amelia Grace Pinnell
	💍 1905/799
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Waimate	Waimate
Length of Residence	25 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Elisha Pinnell, Waimate
Folio	05/3130
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Sharp

27 May 1905

Peter Flynn
Catherine Edwards

Peter Flynn
Catherine Edwards
💍 1905/798

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
24

Studholme
Waimate

12 years
20 years

Catholic Church Waimate

05/3129

27 May 1905

Rev. P. Regnault

No	17
Date of Notice	27 May 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Flynn	Catherine Edwards
	💍 1905/798
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Studholme	Waimate
Length of Residence	12 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church Waimate
Folio	05/3129
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Regnault

12 June 1905

John Shepherd Watt
Annie Kirkman

John Shepherd Watt
Annie Kirkman
💍 1905/805

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

32
29

Waimate
Waimate

5 years
20 years

Salvation Army Barracks Waimate

05/3136

17 June 1905

Henry Jno. Rust, Salvation Army

No	18
Date of Notice	12 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Shepherd Watt	Annie Kirkman
	💍 1905/805
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	32	29
Dwelling Place	Waimate	Waimate
Length of Residence	5 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Salvation Army Barracks Waimate
Folio	05/3136
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Henry Jno. Rust, Salvation Army

13 June 1905

Charles Edward Fow
Mary Harris

Charles Edward Fow
Mary Harris
💍 1905/802

George Edward Crosswell
Mary Ann Harris
💍 1905/1363

Bachelor
Widow

Carpenter

51
44

Waimate
Waimate

7 years
20 years

Residence of Mrs. Harris, Waimate

05/3133

13 June 1905

Rev. T. Findley

No	19
Date of Notice	13 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Fow	Mary Harris
	💍 1905/802
BDM Match (61%)	George Edward Crosswell	Mary Ann Harris
	💍 1905/1363
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Carpenter
Age	51	44
Dwelling Place	Waimate	Waimate
Length of Residence	7 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Harris, Waimate
Folio	05/3133
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. Findley

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).