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 156

District of Ellesmere Quarter ending 31 March 1907 Registrar J. S. Dunlop

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

14 January 1907

Edmund Alfred Fisher
Georgina Jane Chambers

Edward Alfred Fisher
Georgina Jane Chambers
💍 1907/1998

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Domestic Duties

37
26

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 months
6 years

John Chambers house, Leeston

07/2097

14 January 1907

Rev. T. E. Thomas

No	1
Date of Notice	14 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund Alfred Fisher	Georgina Jane Chambers
BDM Match (93%)	Edward Alfred Fisher	Georgina Jane Chambers
	💍 1907/1998
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Domestic Duties
Age	37	26
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 months	6 years
Marriage Place	John Chambers house, Leeston
Folio	07/2097
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. E. Thomas

15 January 1907

Robert James Walker
Annie Melhopt

Robert James Walker
Annie Melhopt
💍 1907/1233

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic Duties

25
34

Hanmer
Southbridge

5 years
1 year

Presbyterian Church, Southbridge

07/1336

15 January 1907

Rev. R. W. Jackson

No	2
Date of Notice	15 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James Walker	Annie Melhopt
	💍 1907/1233
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Duties
Age	25	34
Dwelling Place	Hanmer	Southbridge
Length of Residence	5 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Southbridge
Folio	07/1336
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. W. Jackson

28 January 1907

Adam Bell Menzies
Agnes McLachlan

Adam Bell Menzies
Agnes McLachlan
💍 1907/1234

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer

34
34

Christchurch
Rolleston

3 years
3 months

St. David's Church, Leeston

07/1337

28 January 1907

John McKenzie

No	3
Date of Notice	28 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam Bell Menzies	Agnes McLachlan
	💍 1907/1234
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer
Age	34	34
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Rolleston
Length of Residence	3 years	3 months
Marriage Place	St. David's Church, Leeston
Folio	07/1337
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1907
Officiating Minister	John McKenzie

18 March 1907

Henry Albert Withell
Mary Ann Bryce

Henry Albert Wittell
Mary Ann Boyce
💍 1907/1368

Bachelor
Spinster

Creamery Manager

29
22

Woodside
Leeston

1 year
10 years

Anglican Church, Leeston

07/1465

20 March 1907

Rev. W. A. Orbell

No	4
Date of Notice	18 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Albert Withell	Mary Ann Bryce
BDM Match (94%)	Henry Albert Wittell	Mary Ann Boyce
	💍 1907/1368
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Creamery Manager
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Woodside	Leeston
Length of Residence	1 year	10 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Leeston
Folio	07/1465
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Orbell

21 March 1907

William Gilbert
Elizabeth Eddy

William Gilbert
Elizabeth Eddy
💍 1907/1236

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

36
30

Southbridge
Doyleston

7 years
20 years

Brookside Presbyterian Church,

07/1339

21 March 1907

Rev. W. Jackson

No	5
Date of Notice	21 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gilbert	Elizabeth Eddy
	💍 1907/1236
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	36	30
Dwelling Place	Southbridge	Doyleston
Length of Residence	7 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Brookside Presbyterian Church,
Folio	07/1339
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Jackson

23 March 1907

Herbert James Petrie
Mary Jane Cameron

Herbert James Petrie
Mary Jane Cameron
💍 1907/1235

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Dressmaker

21
19

Brookside
Dunsandel

21 years
19 years

Presbyterian Manse, Leeston

07/1338

Donald Philip Cameron, Father

23 March 1907

Rev. T. E. Thomas

No	6
Date of Notice	23 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert James Petrie	Mary Jane Cameron
	💍 1907/1235
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Dressmaker
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Brookside	Dunsandel
Length of Residence	21 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse, Leeston
Folio	07/1338
Consent	Donald Philip Cameron, Father
Date of Certificate	23 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. E. Thomas

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).