Intentions to Marry, 1907 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840435, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1907 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1907a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1907b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1907c).

Page 015

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 June 1907 Registrar William Winsbury White

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

500

2 April 1907

Robert William Morrow
Rose Anna Mulligan

Robert William Morrow
Rose Anna Mulligan
💍 1907/3413

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger
domestic duties

29
23

Ashburton
Barford, Lismore

3 days
3 years

The dwelling of Robert James Mulligan, Barford, Lismore

07/4158

2 April 1907

Rev. H. G. Blackburne, M.A.

No	500
Date of Notice	2 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert William Morrow	Rose Anna Mulligan
	💍 1907/3413
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger	domestic duties
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Barford, Lismore
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling of Robert James Mulligan, Barford, Lismore
Folio	07/4158
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Blackburne, M.A.

501

5 April 1907

James Morrow
Mary Ann Bell

James McJorrow
Mary Ann Bell
💍 1907/3174

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

34
37

Ashburton
Ashlon

3 days
3 years

Presbyterian Church, Hemington

07/3231

5 April 1907

Rev. J. B. Paterson, M.A.

No	501
Date of Notice	5 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Morrow	Mary Ann Bell
BDM Match (93%)	James McJorrow	Mary Ann Bell
	💍 1907/3174
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	34	37
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashlon
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Hemington
Folio	07/3231
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Paterson, M.A.

502

6 April 1907

Cecil Young Ward
Ellen Bell Bates

Cecil Young Ward
Ellen Bell Bates
💍 1907/4355

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
domestic duties

28
30

Ragnhor
Alford Forest

18 Months
3 years

The dwelling of Henry Spring-Bates at Burn

07/3540

6 April 1907

Rev. E. W. Blakiston

No	502
Date of Notice	6 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Young Ward	Ellen Bell Bates
	💍 1907/4355
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	domestic duties
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Ragnhor	Alford Forest
Length of Residence	18 Months	3 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling of Henry Spring-Bates at Burn
Folio	07/3540
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. W. Blakiston

503

9 April 1907

William Herbert Witchell
Lilian Taylor

William Herbert Mitchell
Lilian Taylor
💍 1907/4147

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
domestic duties

34
25

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 years
25 years

Ashburton Primitive Methodist Church

07/3225

9 April 1907

Rev. A. J. Liddell

No	503
Date of Notice	9 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Herbert Witchell	Lilian Taylor
BDM Match (98%)	William Herbert Mitchell	Lilian Taylor
	💍 1907/4147
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	domestic duties
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Ashburton Primitive Methodist Church
Folio	07/3225
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. J. Liddell

504

10 April 1907

Henry Reuben Adams
Clara Millar McKee

Henry Reuben Adams
Clara Millar McKee
💍 1907/3193

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
domestic duties

25
26

Ashburton
Ashburton

18 Months
25 years

The dwelling of Mrs. Helen Adams, Ashburton

07/3234

10 April 1907

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	504
Date of Notice	10 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Reuben Adams	Clara Millar McKee
	💍 1907/3193
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	domestic duties
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	18 Months	25 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling of Mrs. Helen Adams, Ashburton
Folio	07/3234
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

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).