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 288

District of Temuka Quarter ending 31 March 1906 Registrar Arthur A. Westerburg

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

15 January 1906

John Joseph Peoples
Julia Agnes Hoare

John Joseph Peoples
Julia Agnes Hoare
💍 1906/2508

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
22

Temuka
Temuka

4 days
4 days

Roman Catholic Church, Temuka

06/1200

15 January 1906

Rev. F. Kerley

No	26
Date of Notice	15 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Joseph Peoples	Julia Agnes Hoare
	💍 1906/2508
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	22
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Temuka
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Temuka
Folio	06/1200
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Kerley

16 January 1906

James Brosnan
Katie Madeleine Gillespie

James Brosnan
Katie Madeline Gillespie
💍 1906/2509

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

36
27

Temuka
Temuka

4 days
3 months

Roman Catholic Church, Temuka

06/1201

16 January 1906

Rev. F. Kerley

No	27
Date of Notice	16 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Brosnan	Katie Madeleine Gillespie
BDM Match (98%)	James Brosnan	Katie Madeline Gillespie
	💍 1906/2509
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	36	27
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Temuka
Length of Residence	4 days	3 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Temuka
Folio	06/1201
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Kerley

23 January 1906

Thomas John Stewart
Sarah Brown

Thomas John Stewart
Sarah Brown
💍 1906/2511

Thomas Reid Christie
Sarah Brown
💍 1906/7244

Bachelor
Spinster

Millowner

25
24

Naimalaila
Milford

2 years
2 years

At Mr. John Brown's Residence, Milford

06/1203

23 January 1906

Rev. C. Macdonald

No	28
Date of Notice	23 January 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas John Stewart	Sarah Brown
	💍 1906/2511
BDM Match (70%)	Thomas Reid Christie	Sarah Brown
	💍 1906/7244
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Millowner
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Naimalaila	Milford
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	At Mr. John Brown's Residence, Milford
Folio	06/1203
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Macdonald

14 February 1906

William Michael Twiddy
Mary Cecil Dwyer

William Michael Smiddy
Mary Cecilia Dwyer
💍 1906/2510

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic Servant

22
21

Temuka
Temuka

1 year
6 years

Roman Catholic Church, Temuka

06/1202

14 February 1906

Rev. F. Kerley

No	29
Date of Notice	14 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Michael Twiddy	Mary Cecil Dwyer
BDM Match (90%)	William Michael Smiddy	Mary Cecilia Dwyer
	💍 1906/2510
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic Servant
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Temuka
Length of Residence	1 year	6 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Temuka
Folio	06/1202
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Kerley

13 March 1906

Charles Thomas
Susan Jane King

Charles Thomas
Susan Jane King
💍 1906/2506

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

26
21

Temuka
Orari

2 years
2.5 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Temuka

06/1199

13 March 1906

Rev. J. Campbell

No	30
Date of Notice	13 March 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Thomas	Susan Jane King
	💍 1906/2506
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Orari
Length of Residence	2 years	2.5 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Temuka
Folio	06/1199
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Campbell

16 March 1906

William Henry Ellis
Caroline Phoebe Moxham England

William Henry Ellis
Caroline Phoebe Morlay England
💍 1906/4018

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Cook

22
18

Orari
Orari

1 month
10 years

Church of England, Winchester

06/3742

Edward Lee England, father of bride

16 March 1906

Rev. J. M. Peacock

No	31
Date of Notice	16 March 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Ellis	Caroline Phoebe Moxham England
BDM Match (95%)	William Henry Ellis	Caroline Phoebe Morlay England
	💍 1906/4018
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Cook
Age	22	18
Dwelling Place	Orari	Orari
Length of Residence	1 month	10 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Winchester
Folio	06/3742
Consent	Edward Lee England, father of bride
Date of Certificate	16 March 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Peacock

28 March 1906

Thomas Conway Wallace
Sarah Freda Taylor

Thomas Conway Wallace
Sarah Gwladys Taylor
💍 1906/2512

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger

25
23

Ashburton
Temuka

25 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church, Temuka

06/1204

28 March 1906

Rev. C. Macdonald

No	32
Date of Notice	28 March 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Conway Wallace	Sarah Freda Taylor
BDM Match (85%)	Thomas Conway Wallace	Sarah Gwladys Taylor
	💍 1906/2512
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Temuka
Length of Residence	25 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Temuka
Folio	06/1204
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Macdonald

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).