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 040

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

1 February 1906

Hubert William Marks
Ethel Anniston Marks

Bachelor
Spinster

Confectioner
Cook

25
22

Opawa
Opawa

25 Years
22 Years

St Marks

06/1074

1 February 1906

Rev. P. D. Cook, Anglican

No	65
Date of Notice	1 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hubert William Marks	Ethel Anniston Marks
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Confectioner	Cook
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Opawa	Opawa
Length of Residence	25 Years	22 Years
Marriage Place	St Marks
Folio	06/1074
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. D. Cook, Anglican

2 February 1906

Frank Dunn
Rachel Cowlin

Joseph Dunn
Rachel Conlin
💍 1906/2529

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

24
17

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 Days
6 Years

House of Mr Cowlin, Christchurch

06/1147

John Cowlin, father

2 February 1906

Rev. J. A. Lothian, Methodist

No	66
Date of Notice	2 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Dunn	Rachel Cowlin
BDM Match (69%)	Joseph Dunn	Rachel Conlin
	💍 1906/2529
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	24	17
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 Days	6 Years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Cowlin, Christchurch
Folio	06/1147
Consent	John Cowlin, father
Date of Certificate	2 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Lothian, Methodist

2 February 1906

Adolphus Jacob Zachariah
Gertrude Leah Zachariah

Adolphus Jacob Zachariah
Gertrude Leah Citron
💍 1906/1945

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor

32
28

Christchurch
Wellington

3 Days
4 Years

Synagogue, Wellington

06/1807

2 February 1906

Rev. H. Van Staveren, Rabbi

No	67
Date of Notice	2 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adolphus Jacob Zachariah	Gertrude Leah Zachariah
BDM Match (83%)	Adolphus Jacob Zachariah	Gertrude Leah Citron
	💍 1906/1945
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Wellington
Length of Residence	3 Days	4 Years
Marriage Place	Synagogue, Wellington
Folio	06/1807
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Van Staveren, Rabbi

2 February 1906

Peter Hosking
Leah Bushby

Peter Hosking
Leah Bushby
💍 1906/2534

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer
Dressmaker

23
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 Years
2 Years

Home of Mrs Bushby, Christchurch

06/1151

2 February 1906

Rev. L. Harry, Methodist

No	68
Date of Notice	2 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Hosking	Leah Bushby
	💍 1906/2534
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer	Dressmaker
Age	23	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 Years	2 Years
Marriage Place	Home of Mrs Bushby, Christchurch
Folio	06/1151
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Harry, Methodist

2 February 1906

Thomas Spillane
Agnes Kiven

Thomas Spillane
Agnes Niven
💍 1906/2282

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Cook

30
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 Years
8 Years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

06/1007

2 February 1906

Registrar, Christchurch

No	69
Date of Notice	2 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Spillane	Agnes Kiven
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Spillane	Agnes Niven
	💍 1906/2282
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Cook
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 Years	8 Years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	06/1007
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Christchurch

2 February 1906

Henry Pavitt
Dorothy Thomas

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Personal

25
24

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 Years
2 Years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

06/1005

2 February 1906

Registrar, Christchurch

No	70
Date of Notice	2 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Pavitt	Dorothy Thomas
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Personal
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 Years	2 Years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	06/1005
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Christchurch

3 February 1906

George Wilson
Elizabeth Taylor

George Wilson
Elizabeth Taylor
💍 1906/2281

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Nurse

27
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 Years
1 Month

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

06/1006

3 February 1906

Registrar, Christchurch

No	71
Date of Notice	3 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wilson	Elizabeth Taylor
	💍 1906/2281
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Nurse
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 Years	1 Month
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	06/1006
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Registrar, Christchurch

5 February 1906

Frederick Robert Rose
Ann Carey

Frederick Robert Rose
Ann Carey
💍 1906/2535

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic

17
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

16 Years
29 Years

Methodist Parsonage, Christchurch

06/1152

Henry Charles Rose, father

5 February 1906

Rev. W. Ready, Methodist

No	72
Date of Notice	5 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Robert Rose	Ann Carey
	💍 1906/2535
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic
Age	17	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	16 Years	29 Years
Marriage Place	Methodist Parsonage, Christchurch
Folio	06/1152
Consent	Henry Charles Rose, father
Date of Certificate	5 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Ready, Methodist

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).