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 035

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

16 January 1906

Edward George Thomas Hughes
May Lloyd

Edward George Thomas Hughes
Mary Lloyd
💍 1906/2277

Bachelor
Spinster

Electrical Engineer
Domestic

26
29

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 months
7 weeks

Registrar's Office

06/1002

16 January 1906

Registrar Marriages

No	33
Date of Notice	16 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward George Thomas Hughes	May Lloyd
BDM Match (95%)	Edward George Thomas Hughes	Mary Lloyd
	💍 1906/2277
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Electrical Engineer	Domestic
Age	26	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 months	7 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	06/1002
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Registrar Marriages

17 January 1906

Joseph Francis Penhall
Helen Gertrude Leek

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Milliner

25
22

Opawa
Cuba St

10 Years
20 Years

Church of Good Shepherd Linwood

06/1060

17 January 1906

Rev H E Ensor Anglican

No	34
Date of Notice	17 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Francis Penhall	Helen Gertrude Leek
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Milliner
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Cuba St
Length of Residence	10 Years	20 Years
Marriage Place	Church of Good Shepherd Linwood
Folio	06/1060
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev H E Ensor Anglican

17 January 1906

Alfred Smith
Mabel Florence Lloyd

Alfred Smith
Mabel Florence Lloyd
💍 1906/2528

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber

25
19

Riccarton
Spreydon

6 months
16 Years

Mr Lloyd's House 49 Madras St South

06/1146

Wallis Lloyd Father

17 January 1906

Rev J G Locrine Methodist

No	35
Date of Notice	17 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Smith	Mabel Florence Lloyd
	💍 1906/2528
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Riccarton	Spreydon
Length of Residence	6 months	16 Years
Marriage Place	Mr Lloyd's House 49 Madras St South
Folio	06/1146
Consent	Wallis Lloyd Father
Date of Certificate	17 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev J G Locrine Methodist

18 January 1906

Thomas Nicholson
Ellen Hooper

Thomas Nicholson
Ellen Hooper
💍 1906/3244

Widower
Widow

Retired Farmer

60
58

Sydenham
Papanui

2 years
3 years

Anglican Church Papanui

06/3000

18 January 1906

Rev A G Julius Anglican

No	36
Date of Notice	18 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Nicholson	Ellen Hooper
	💍 1906/3244
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Retired Farmer
Age	60	58
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Papanui
Length of Residence	2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Papanui
Folio	06/3000
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev A G Julius Anglican

19 January 1906

Ernest William Abraham Fellow
Elsie Emily Salter

Ernest William Abraham Kellow
Elsie Emily Salter
💍 1906/2524

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

30
24

Wellington
Christchurch

30 years
24 years

Methodist Church St Albans

06/1142

19 January 1906

Rev R. C. Oliver Methodist

No	37
Date of Notice	19 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest William Abraham Fellow	Elsie Emily Salter
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest William Abraham Kellow	Elsie Emily Salter
	💍 1906/2524
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	30	24
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Christchurch
Length of Residence	30 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church St Albans
Folio	06/1142
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev R. C. Oliver Methodist

20 January 1906

William Septimus Bamford
Mary Maude Broughton

William Septimus Bamford
Mary Maude Leah Bollington
💍 1906/2484

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Domestic

27
21

Christchurch
Addington

27 Years
12 Years

Methodist Church Durham Street Christchurch

06/1124

20 January 1906

Rev H R Dewsbury Methodist

No	38
Date of Notice	20 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Septimus Bamford	Mary Maude Broughton
BDM Match (79%)	William Septimus Bamford	Mary Maude Leah Bollington
	💍 1906/2484
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Addington
Length of Residence	27 Years	12 Years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church Durham Street Christchurch
Folio	06/1124
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev H R Dewsbury Methodist

20 January 1906

John Page
Rachel Gadd

John Page
Rachel Waddell
💍 1906/2434

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Clerk

26
21

Christchurch
Riccarton

26 Years
17 Years

St Andrews Christchurch

06/1099

20 January 1906

Rev J Mackenzie Presbyterian

No	39
Date of Notice	20 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Page	Rachel Gadd
BDM Match (86%)	John Page	Rachel Waddell
	💍 1906/2434
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Clerk
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Riccarton
Length of Residence	26 Years	17 Years
Marriage Place	St Andrews Christchurch
Folio	06/1099
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev J Mackenzie Presbyterian

20 January 1906

Willie Gleeson
Mary Emma Buckley

Willie Gleeson
Mary Emma Buckley
💍 1906/2437

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

33
32

Sydenham
Sydenham

3 weeks
4 years

House of Mrs Madden Wordsworth Street Sydenham

06/1102

20 January 1906

Rev C. Murray Presbyterian

No	40
Date of Notice	20 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Willie Gleeson	Mary Emma Buckley
	💍 1906/2437
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	33	32
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 weeks	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Madden Wordsworth Street Sydenham
Folio	06/1102
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev C. Murray Presbyterian

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 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).