Intentions to Marry, 1906 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840432, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1906 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1906a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1906b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1906c).

Page 033

District of CHRISTCHURCH Quarter ending 31 March 1906 Registrar LYONEL CHARLES 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

8 January 1906

Charly Mathew Longstaff
Elizabeth Reave

Charles Matthew Longstaff
Elizabeth Neave
💍 1906/2426

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

27
19

Christchurch 3 Ean St
Woolston

2 years
19 years

Presbyterian Church

06/1092

Alexander Dixon, Father

8 January 1906

Rev. R. Mc. Donald, Presbyterian

No	17
Date of Notice	8 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charly Mathew Longstaff	Elizabeth Reave
BDM Match (91%)	Charles Matthew Longstaff	Elizabeth Neave
	💍 1906/2426
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch 3 Ean St	Woolston
Length of Residence	2 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	06/1092
Consent	Alexander Dixon, Father
Date of Certificate	8 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mc. Donald, Presbyterian

9 January 1906

Henry Ludwig Andersen
Alice Chapman

Henry Ludvig Andersen
Alice Philomena Foster
💍 1906/3726

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman

26
24

Christchurch 26 Ean St
Christchurch St Albans

24 years
24 years

St Matthews Church

06/3731

9 January 1906

Rev. R. H. Rogus, Anglican

No	18
Date of Notice	9 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Ludwig Andersen	Alice Chapman
BDM Match (68%)	Henry Ludvig Andersen	Alice Philomena Foster
	💍 1906/3726
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch 26 Ean St	Christchurch St Albans
Length of Residence	24 years	24 years
Marriage Place	St Matthews Church
Folio	06/3731
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. H. Rogus, Anglican

9 January 1906

Reginald Thomas Cooper
Ethel Hampton

Reginald Thomas Cooper
Violet Ethel Hampton
💍 1906/2525

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

25
23

Christchurch 25 Ean St
Christchurch

25 years
23 years

Methodist Church, East Belt

06/1143

9 January 1906

Rev. R. Ready, Methodist

No	19
Date of Notice	9 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Thomas Cooper	Ethel Hampton
BDM Match (83%)	Reginald Thomas Cooper	Violet Ethel Hampton
	💍 1906/2525
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch 25 Ean St	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, East Belt
Folio	06/1143
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ready, Methodist

10 January 1906

Alfred Wallis Dillimore
Agnes Ruth Cook

Alfred Walter Dillimore
Dorcas Ruth Cook
💍 1906/2273

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler

23
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

23 years
2 years

Registrar's Office

06/998

10 January 1906

Registrar of Marriages

No	20
Date of Notice	10 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Wallis Dillimore	Agnes Ruth Cook
BDM Match (78%)	Alfred Walter Dillimore	Dorcas Ruth Cook
	💍 1906/2273
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	23 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	06/998
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

10 January 1906

Lionel George Aitken
Martha Agnes McElligott

Lionel George Aitken
Martha Margery McElligott
💍 1906/2272

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

23
22

Fendalton
Fendalton

4 months
4 months

Registrar's Office

06/997

10 January 1906

Registrar of Marriages

No	21
Date of Notice	10 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lionel George Aitken	Martha Agnes McElligott
BDM Match (88%)	Lionel George Aitken	Martha Margery McElligott
	💍 1906/2272
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Fendalton	Fendalton
Length of Residence	4 months	4 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	06/997
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages

11 January 1906

Robert Asher Butcher
Lucy Theodora Johnston

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

36
27

Christchurch
Rolleston

3 days
2 years

Presbyterian Church

06/1100

11 January 1906

Rev. R. Mc. Callum, Presbyterian

No	22
Date of Notice	11 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Asher Butcher	Lucy Theodora Johnston
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	36	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Rolleston
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	06/1100
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mc. Callum, Presbyterian

11 January 1906

John Dalton
Mary Wallace

John Dalton
Mary Wallace
💍 1906/2427

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

34
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

34 years
3 years

St Mary's Church

06/1093

11 January 1906

Rev. G. Mc. Donald, Roman Catholic

No	23
Date of Notice	11 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dalton	Mary Wallace
	💍 1906/2427
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	34 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church
Folio	06/1093
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Mc. Donald, Roman Catholic

12 January 1906

James Grose
Eliza McMillan

James Grose
Eliza McMillan
💍 1906/2436

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Fitter

27
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

27 years
26 years

Presbyterian Church

06/1101

12 January 1906

Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

No	24
Date of Notice	12 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Grose	Eliza McMillan
	💍 1906/2436
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Fitter
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	27 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	06/1101
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray, Presbyterian

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).