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 437

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 June 1906

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

172

7 April 1906

Charles Edward West
Mary Letitia Bayley

Charles Edward West
Mary Letitia Bagg
💍 1906/1232

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

30 years
26 years

Dunedin
Timaru

30 years
3 months

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

06/3313

7 April 1906

H. Maxwell

No	172
Date of Notice	7 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward West	Mary Letitia Bayley
BDM Match (89%)	Charles Edward West	Mary Letitia Bagg
	💍 1906/1232
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	30 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Timaru
Length of Residence	30 years	3 months
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	06/3313
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1906
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

173

7 April 1906

Samuel Thomas Bolton
Margaret Anna Ellison

Samuel Thomas Bolton
Margaret Anna Ellison
💍 1906/3427

Widower
Spinster

Painter

57 years
34 years

Ravensbourne
South Dunedin

27 years
3 years

In the house of Mr. James Beaumont, Anderson's Bay Road, South Dunedin

06/3422

7 April 1906

Robt. Mackie

No	173
Date of Notice	7 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Thomas Bolton	Margaret Anna Ellison
	💍 1906/3427
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	57 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	Ravensbourne	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	27 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. James Beaumont, Anderson's Bay Road, South Dunedin
Folio	06/3422
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 April 1906
Officiating Minister	Robt. Mackie

174

9 April 1906

Thomas Dow
Rozena Mary Ann Rae

Thomas Dow
Rozena Mary Ann Rae
💍 1906/1234

Bachelor
Widow

Gas Inspector

62 years
47 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

20 years
18 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

06/3315

9 April 1906

H. Maxwell

No	174
Date of Notice	9 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Dow	Rozena Mary Ann Rae
	💍 1906/1234
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Gas Inspector
Age	62 years	47 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	20 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	06/3315
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1906
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

175

9 April 1906

Joseph Francis Lewers
Rose Clark

Joseph Francis Lewers
Rose Clark
💍 1906/3463

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist

28 years
28 years

Christchurch
Caversham

4 years
28 years

In the house of Mr. C. Royall, College Street, Christchurch (see letter Caversham)

06/3484

9 April 1906

C. Royall

No	175
Date of Notice	9 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Francis Lewers	Rose Clark
	💍 1906/3463
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist
Age	28 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Caversham
Length of Residence	4 years	28 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. C. Royall, College Street, Christchurch (see letter Caversham)
Folio	06/3484
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1906
Officiating Minister	C. Royall

176

10 April 1906

Ernest Still
Eliza Warrington

Ernest Still
Eliza Warrington
💍 1906/1274

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

30 years
34 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 months

In the house of Mrs. Mary Warrington, 78 Stafford Street, Dunedin

06/3456

10 April 1906

W. A. Sinclair

No	176
Date of Notice	10 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Still	Eliza Warrington
	💍 1906/1274
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	30 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Mary Warrington, 78 Stafford Street, Dunedin
Folio	06/3456
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1906
Officiating Minister	W. A. Sinclair

177

10 April 1906

John Mitchell
Florence Kirkwood

John Mitchell
Florence Kirkwood
💍 1906/3495

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

32 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

10 years
11 years

In the Congregational Church, Leith Street, Dunedin

06/3493

10 April 1906

W. S. Fernie

No	177
Date of Notice	10 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Mitchell	Florence Kirkwood
	💍 1906/3495
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	32 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	10 years	11 years
Marriage Place	In the Congregational Church, Leith Street, Dunedin
Folio	06/3493
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1906
Officiating Minister	W. S. Fernie

178

10 April 1906

Alexander Lees
Euphemia Marshall Paterson

Alexander Lees
Euphemia Marshall Paterson
💍 1906/3428

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Machinist

21 years
20 years

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

14 years
20 years

In the house of Mr. Alex. Paterson, Hall Street, South Dunedin

06/3428

Alex. Paterson, father

10 April 1906

R. Mackie

No	178
Date of Notice	10 April 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Lees	Euphemia Marshall Paterson
	💍 1906/3428
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Machinist
Age	21 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	14 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Alex. Paterson, Hall Street, South Dunedin
Folio	06/3428
Consent	Alex. Paterson, father
Date of Certificate	10 April 1906
Officiating Minister	R. Mackie

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).