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 043

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1906 Registrar S. Prid[illegible]

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

13 February 1906

Thomas Griffiths
Fanny Kershaw

Thomas Griffiths
Fanny Kershaw
💍 1906/2763

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

37
28

Christchurch
Sydenham

3 days
28 years

St. Saviours

06/1057

13 February 1906

Archd. S. A. R. Rott, Anglican

No	89
Date of Notice	13 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Griffiths	Fanny Kershaw
	💍 1906/2763
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	37	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 days	28 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviours
Folio	06/1057
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Archd. S. A. R. Rott, Anglican

13 February 1906

Richard Bennett Hickson
Martha Jane Hurley

Richard Bennett Hickson
Martha Jane Hurley
💍 1906/2764

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

29
25

Christchurch
Sydenham

2 years
25 years

St. Saviours

06/1058

13 February 1906

Registrar Christchurch

No	90
Date of Notice	13 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Bennett Hickson	Martha Jane Hurley
	💍 1906/2764
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	2 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviours
Folio	06/1058
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Registrar Christchurch

13 February 1906

Joseph Garland
Elizabeth Kuch

Joseph Garland
Elizabeth Keech
💍 1906/2357

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

45
49

Christchurch
Christchurch

45 years
20 years

Registrar Office

06/1012

13 February 1906

Registrar Christchurch

No	91
Date of Notice	13 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Garland	Elizabeth Kuch
BDM Match (93%)	Joseph Garland	Elizabeth Keech
	💍 1906/2357
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	45	49
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	45 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar Office
Folio	06/1012
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Registrar Christchurch

14 February 1906

Arthur Lloyd Hansell
Mary Julius

Arthur Lloyd Hansell
Mary Ellen Julius
💍 1906/2765

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

40
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
10 years

The Cathedral

06/1059

14 February 1906

Dean Harper, Anglican

No	92
Date of Notice	14 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Lloyd Hansell	Mary Julius
BDM Match (82%)	Arthur Lloyd Hansell	Mary Ellen Julius
	💍 1906/2765
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	40	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	The Cathedral
Folio	06/1059
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Dean Harper, Anglican

14 February 1906

Stewart Bell
Annie Ellen

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic

20
22

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
7 years

St. Michael's

Thomas Burns, as he is having applied for authority to consent

14 February 1906

Averell

No	93
Date of Notice	14 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stewart Bell	Annie Ellen
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic
Age	20	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's
Folio
Consent	Thomas Burns, as he is having applied for authority to consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Averell

16 February 1906

George Duncan
Mary Aitken

George Duncan
Mary Aitken
💍 1906/2445

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Storekeeper

65
68

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

House of M. Greenstreet, Clerk

06/1087

16 February 1906

Rev. J. Maxwell, Presbyterian

No	94
Date of Notice	16 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Duncan	Mary Aitken
	💍 1906/2445
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Storekeeper
Age	65	68
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	House of M. Greenstreet, Clerk
Folio	06/1087
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Maxwell, Presbyterian

16 February 1906

Somerset Henry Graham
Mary Heand

Somerset Henry Graves
Mary Maude Graham
💍 1906/3125

Bachelor
Spinster

Drover, Operator
Typist

50
43

Christchurch
Ashburton

2 years
10 years

St. Stephen's

06/2883

16 February 1906

Rev. E. Whitmore, Anglican

No	95
Date of Notice	16 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Somerset Henry Graham	Mary Heand
BDM Match (63%)	Somerset Henry Graves	Mary Maude Graham
	💍 1906/3125
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drover, Operator	Typist
Age	50	43
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Ashburton
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephen's
Folio	06/2883
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Whitmore, Anglican

16 February 1906

Charles Rainsford
Mary Glennon

Eustace Charles Rainsford
Mary Glennan
💍 1906/2478

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic

36
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 week
1 week

Catholic Cathedral

06/1119

16 February 1906

Rev. P. Leeden Cheesman, Romanist

No	96
Date of Notice	16 February 1906
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Rainsford	Mary Glennon
BDM Match (80%)	Eustace Charles Rainsford	Mary Glennan
	💍 1906/2478
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic
Age	36	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	Catholic Cathedral
Folio	06/1119
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1906
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Leeden Cheesman, Romanist

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).