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 856

District of Winton Quarter ending 30 September 1906 Registrar William Russell

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

311

2 July 1906

John McDonald
Elizabeth Jamieson

John Macdonald
Elizabeth Jamieson
💍 1906/4564

bachelor
spinster

stock agent

27
28

Winton
Winton

2 years
28 years

House of Mr Robert Jamieson, Winton

06/5342

2 July 1906

Rev. J. M. Simpson B. A. Presbyterian

No	311
Date of Notice	2 July 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McDonald	Elizabeth Jamieson
BDM Match (93%)	John Macdonald	Elizabeth Jamieson
	💍 1906/4564
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	stock agent
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	2 years	28 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Robert Jamieson, Winton
Folio	06/5342
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson B. A. Presbyterian

312

9 July 1906

George Edward Sands
Jeanie Murray McDonald

George Albert Edward Sands
Jeannie McDonald
💍 1906/7387

bachelor
spinster

farmer and contractor

22
17

Winton
Limehills

19 years
5 years

The Church of England, Winton

06/1409

Robert McDonald, father

9 July 1906

Rev. W. B. Wood, Church of England

No	312
Date of Notice	9 July 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Sands	Jeanie Murray McDonald
BDM Match (68%)	George Albert Edward Sands	Jeannie McDonald
	💍 1906/7387
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	farmer and contractor
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Winton	Limehills
Length of Residence	19 years	5 years
Marriage Place	The Church of England, Winton
Folio	06/1409
Consent	Robert McDonald, father
Date of Certificate	9 July 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. B. Wood, Church of England

313

17 July 1906

Robert Haglett
Ann Payne

Robert Hazlett
Ann Payne
💍 1906/4565

Robert Moffet Coates
Ada Payne
💍 1906/1428

bachelor
spinster

farmer

26
19

South Hillend
Yern Hills

24 years
19 years

The Presbyterian Church Centre Bush

06/5345

Samuel Payne, father

17 July 1906

Rev. J. M. Simpson B. A. Presbyterian

No	313
Date of Notice	17 July 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Haglett	Ann Payne
BDM Match (96%)	Robert Hazlett	Ann Payne
	💍 1906/4565
BDM Match (64%)	Robert Moffet Coates	Ada Payne
	💍 1906/1428
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	farmer
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	South Hillend	Yern Hills
Length of Residence	24 years	19 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church Centre Bush
Folio	06/5345
Consent	Samuel Payne, father
Date of Certificate	17 July 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson B. A. Presbyterian

314

23 July 1906

Walter Hynes
Bridget Scully

Walter Hynes
Bridget Scully
💍 1906/4568

bachelor
spinster

labourer
domestic servant

38
38

Winton
Yern Hills

4 years
2 years

The Roman Catholic Church, Winton

06/5346

23 July 1906

Rev. R. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

No	314
Date of Notice	23 July 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Hynes	Bridget Scully
	💍 1906/4568
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	labourer	domestic servant
Age	38	38
Dwelling Place	Winton	Yern Hills
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church, Winton
Folio	06/5346
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

315

23 August 1906

Robert McDougall
Clara Mabel Ferguson

Robert McDougall
Clara Mabel Ferguson
💍 1906/4569

bachelor
spinster

farmer

33
18

Harringtons
Harringtons

2 years
18 years

House of Mr John Ferguson, Harringtons

06/5347

John Ferguson, father

23 August 1906

Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian

No	315
Date of Notice	23 August 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert McDougall	Clara Mabel Ferguson
	💍 1906/4569
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	farmer
Age	33	18
Dwelling Place	Harringtons	Harringtons
Length of Residence	2 years	18 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr John Ferguson, Harringtons
Folio	06/5347
Consent	John Ferguson, father
Date of Certificate	23 August 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Davie, Presbyterian

316

3 September 1906

George Woodford Rouse
Annie Jessie Cowie

George Woodford Rouse
Annie Jessie Cowie
💍 1906/4566

bachelor
spinster

farmer

32
33

Limehills
Limehills

5 years
33 years

House of Mr Andrew Cowie, Limehills

06/5344

3 September 1906

Rev. J. M. Simpson B. A. Presbyterian

No	316
Date of Notice	3 September 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Woodford Rouse	Annie Jessie Cowie
	💍 1906/4566
Condition	bachelor	spinster
Profession	farmer
Age	32	33
Dwelling Place	Limehills	Limehills
Length of Residence	5 years	33 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Andrew Cowie, Limehills
Folio	06/5344
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson B. A. 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).