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 084

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1905 Registrar L. C. Williams

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

386

13 June 1905

Henry Osmyn Gailley
Margaret Hale

Henry Osmyn Oakley
Margaret Honor Hale
💍 1905/686

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

25
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
26 years

Church of Christ, Durham Street

05/3015

13 June 1905

Rev. J. I. Bull, Church of Christ

No	386
Date of Notice	13 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Osmyn Gailley	Margaret Hale
BDM Match (76%)	Henry Osmyn Oakley	Margaret Honor Hale
	💍 1905/686
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Church of Christ, Durham Street
Folio	05/3015
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. I. Bull, Church of Christ

387

13 June 1905

Walter Cottrell Wilson
Clara Louisa Burrows

Walter Cothell
Clara Louisa Wilson
💍 1905/626

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Housewife

49
32

Linwood
Shirley

30 years
6 years

Anglican Church, Linwood

05/2906

13 June 1905

Rev. F. A. Linwood, Anglican

No	387
Date of Notice	13 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Cottrell Wilson	Clara Louisa Burrows
BDM Match (65%)	Walter Cothell	Clara Louisa Wilson
	💍 1905/626
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Housewife
Age	49	32
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Shirley
Length of Residence	30 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Linwood
Folio	05/2906
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. A. Linwood, Anglican

388

14 June 1905

Walter Cottam Watson
Annie Paull Pace

Walter Watson
Annie Paull
💍 1905/1981

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Milliner

25
18

Linwood
Riccarton Road

18 years
1 year

St. Paul's, Riccarton Road

05/2951

John Henry Pace, father

14 June 1905

Rev. R. McCallum, Presbyterian

No	388
Date of Notice	14 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Cottam Watson	Annie Paull Pace
BDM Match (67%)	Walter Watson	Annie Paull
	💍 1905/1981
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Milliner
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Riccarton Road
Length of Residence	18 years	1 year
Marriage Place	St. Paul's, Riccarton Road
Folio	05/2951
Consent	John Henry Pace, father
Date of Certificate	14 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. McCallum, Presbyterian

389

14 June 1905

Richard Joseph Carey
Ellen Milligan

Richard Joseph Carey
Ellen Helena Nellegan
💍 1905/653

Bachelor
Spinster

Dyer, Polisher

23
23

Christchurch
Woolston

4 years
11 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral

05/2974

14 June 1905

Rev. F. F. de Courcey, Roman Catholic

No	389
Date of Notice	14 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Joseph Carey	Ellen Milligan
BDM Match (76%)	Richard Joseph Carey	Ellen Helena Nellegan
	💍 1905/653
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dyer, Polisher
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Woolston
Length of Residence	4 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral
Folio	05/2974
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. F. de Courcey, Roman Catholic

390

14 June 1905

William Richard Shattock
Marjorie Irene Solomon Davis

William Richards Shattock
Margaret Jane Meaclem
💍 1905/9

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

22
21

Opawa
Opawa

3 months
6 weeks

House of Mrs. Corkin, St. Martins Road, Opawa

05/2962

14 June 1905

Rev. C. E. Ward, Primitive Methodist

No	390
Date of Notice	14 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Richard Shattock	Marjorie Irene Solomon Davis
BDM Match (62%)	William Richards Shattock	Margaret Jane Meaclem
	💍 1905/9
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Opawa
Length of Residence	3 months	6 weeks
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Corkin, St. Martins Road, Opawa
Folio	05/2962
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Ward, Primitive Methodist

391

14 June 1905

Soloman David Zachariah
Estella Cohen

Solomon David Zachariah
Estella Cohen
💍 1905/688

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant

34
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
14 days

House of Mr. Zachariah, 225 Hereford Street, Christchurch

05/3017

14 June 1905

Rev. I. Zachariah, Hebrew

No	391
Date of Notice	14 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Soloman David Zachariah	Estella Cohen
BDM Match (98%)	Solomon David Zachariah	Estella Cohen
	💍 1905/688
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant
Age	34	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	14 days
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Zachariah, 225 Hereford Street, Christchurch
Folio	05/3017
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. Zachariah, Hebrew

392

14 June 1905

Charles Gottfried Laupe
Mary Emma Ashley

Charles Gottfried Lange
May Emma Ashley
💍 1905/409

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Housewife

24
19

Marshlands
Marshlands

24 years
19 years

St. Paul's, Papanui

05/7109

Elizabeth Ashley, mother

14 June 1905

Rev. I. A. Julius, Anglican

No	392
Date of Notice	14 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Gottfried Laupe	Mary Emma Ashley
BDM Match (93%)	Charles Gottfried Lange	May Emma Ashley
	💍 1905/409
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housewife
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Marshlands	Marshlands
Length of Residence	24 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's, Papanui
Folio	05/7109
Consent	Elizabeth Ashley, mother
Date of Certificate	14 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. A. Julius, Anglican

393

15 June 1905

William Wagstaff
Esther Sarah Osborn

William Taylor Wagstaff
Esther Sarah Osborn
💍 1905/2252

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

33
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
15 years

House of Mrs. S. E. Hughes, Petrie Street, Christchurch

05/4750

15 June 1905

Rev. R. T. Gray, Baptist

No	393
Date of Notice	15 June 1905
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wagstaff	Esther Sarah Osborn
BDM Match (85%)	William Taylor Wagstaff	Esther Sarah Osborn
	💍 1905/2252
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	33	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	15 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. S. E. Hughes, Petrie Street, Christchurch
Folio	05/4750
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 June 1905
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. T. Gray, Baptist

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).