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 179

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 30 June 1906 Registrar C. Andrews

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

701

7 April 1906

Henry John Brenton
Ruby Thelma Meredith

Henry John Brenton
Ruby Flora Meredith
💍 1906/3395

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

27
18

Belfield
Hilton

23 years
2 months

Presbyterian Church, Geraldine

06/3137

George Meredith, Father

7 April 1906

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	701
Date of Notice	7 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Brenton	Ruby Thelma Meredith
BDM Match (88%)	Henry John Brenton	Ruby Flora Meredith
	💍 1906/3395
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Belfield	Hilton
Length of Residence	23 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Geraldine
Folio	06/3137
Consent	George Meredith, Father
Date of Certificate	7 April 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

702

9 April 1906

Frank South
Elizabeth Ellen Higinbottom

Frank South
Elizabeth Ellen Higinbottom
💍 1906/3398

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Duties

23
18

Geraldine Flat
Geraldine Flat

23 years
4 years

Registrar's Office, Geraldine

06/3140

George William Higinbottom, Father

9 April 1906

C. Andrews, Registrar

No	702
Date of Notice	9 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank South	Elizabeth Ellen Higinbottom
	💍 1906/3398
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	18
Dwelling Place	Geraldine Flat	Geraldine Flat
Length of Residence	23 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Geraldine
Folio	06/3140
Consent	George William Higinbottom, Father
Date of Certificate	9 April 1906
Officiating Minister	C. Andrews, Registrar

703

11 April 1906

George Edward Pulland
Margaret Eleanor Metcalf

George Edward Kelland
Margaret Eleanor Metcalf
💍 1906/3399

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic Duties

34
26

Rangitata
Rangitata

3 days
6 years

The House of Mr. Anthony Metcalf, Rangitata

06/3141

Anthony Metcalf, Father

11 April 1906

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	703
Date of Notice	11 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Pulland	Margaret Eleanor Metcalf
BDM Match (95%)	George Edward Kelland	Margaret Eleanor Metcalf
	💍 1906/3399
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Rangitata	Rangitata
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. Anthony Metcalf, Rangitata
Folio	06/3141
Consent	Anthony Metcalf, Father
Date of Certificate	11 April 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

704

11 April 1906

William Alexander Newson
Mary Ann Hammond

William Alexander Hewson
Mary Ann Hammond
💍 1906/3389

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30
20

Hilton
Hilton

6 months
8 years

The House of Mr. Christopher Hammond, Hilton

06/3148

Christopher Hammond, Father

11 April 1906

Rev. George Henry Mann, Primitive Methodist

No	704
Date of Notice	11 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alexander Newson	Mary Ann Hammond
BDM Match (98%)	William Alexander Hewson	Mary Ann Hammond
	💍 1906/3389
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Hilton	Hilton
Length of Residence	6 months	8 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. Christopher Hammond, Hilton
Folio	06/3148
Consent	Christopher Hammond, Father
Date of Certificate	11 April 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Henry Mann, Primitive Methodist

705

17 April 1906

Patrick O'Connor
Ellen Earl

Patrick O'Connor
Ellen Earl
💍 1906/3397

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

23
29

St. Andrew's
St. Andrew's

3 days
29 years

Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine

06/3139

17 April 1906

Rev. D. G. Bower, Roman Catholic

No	705
Date of Notice	17 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick O'Connor	Ellen Earl
	💍 1906/3397
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	29
Dwelling Place	St. Andrew's	St. Andrew's
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine
Folio	06/3139
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. G. Bower, Roman Catholic

706

19 April 1906

Samuel Miles Patrick Herdman
Mary Ellen Foster Herdman

Samuel Millar Patrick
Mary Ellen Foster Herdman
💍 1906/3394

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Duties

31
21

Geraldine
Geraldine

4 months
2 years

The House of Mr. James Herdman, Geraldine

06/3136

19 April 1906

Rev. George Henry Mann, Primitive Methodist

No	706
Date of Notice	19 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Miles Patrick Herdman	Mary Ellen Foster Herdman
BDM Match (80%)	Samuel Millar Patrick	Mary Ellen Foster Herdman
	💍 1906/3394
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	4 months	2 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. James Herdman, Geraldine
Folio	06/3136
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 April 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. George Henry Mann, Primitive Methodist

707

24 April 1906

Robert John Brown
Alice Webb

Robert John Brown
Alice Webb
💍 1906/43

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
25

Woodbury
Woodbury

1 week
25 years

Presbyterian Church, Woodbury

06/3138

24 April 1906

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	707
Date of Notice	24 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Brown	Alice Webb
	💍 1906/43
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Woodbury	Woodbury
Length of Residence	1 week	25 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Woodbury
Folio	06/3138
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 April 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, 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).