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 166

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 31 March 1907 Registrar Agnes Andrews

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

727

3 January 1907

William Russell
Emma Turner

William Russell
Emma Turner
💍 1907/1263

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

61
38

Geraldine Downs
Geraldine

2 years
7 years

The Home of Mr. Frederick Turner, Geraldine

07/1343

3 January 1907

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	727
Date of Notice	3 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Russell	Emma Turner
	💍 1907/1263
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	61	38
Dwelling Place	Geraldine Downs	Geraldine
Length of Residence	2 years	7 years
Marriage Place	The Home of Mr. Frederick Turner, Geraldine
Folio	07/1343
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

728

19 January 1907

Angus McFarlane Fyfe
Thomasina Scroggie

Angus McLachlan Fyfe
Thomasina Scroggie
💍 1907/1264

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Dressmaker

33
23

Woodbury Road
Geraldine

2 years
23 years

Presbyterian Church Geraldine

07/1344

19 January 1907

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	728
Date of Notice	19 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Angus McFarlane Fyfe	Thomasina Scroggie
BDM Match (90%)	Angus McLachlan Fyfe	Thomasina Scroggie
	💍 1907/1264
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Dressmaker
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Woodbury Road	Geraldine
Length of Residence	2 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Geraldine
Folio	07/1344
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

729

25 January 1907

George Broadhead
Roberta Lilian Anderson

George Broadhead
Roberta Lilian Anderson
💍 1907/1265

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker
Domestic Duties

23
23

Geraldine
Geraldine

5 years
6 years

Presbyterian Church Geraldine

07/1345

25 January 1907

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	729
Date of Notice	25 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Broadhead	Roberta Lilian Anderson
	💍 1907/1265
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker	Domestic Duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	5 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Geraldine
Folio	07/1345
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

730

29 January 1907

Albert James Townley
Barbara Loach

Albert James Townley
Barbara Loach
💍 1907/1244

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

21
20

Orari
Orari

3 days
20 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Geraldine

07/1340

George Loach, Father

29 January 1907

Rev. G. H. Mann, Primitive Methodist

No	730
Date of Notice	29 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert James Townley	Barbara Loach
	💍 1907/1244
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Orari	Orari
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Geraldine
Folio	07/1340
Consent	George Loach, Father
Date of Certificate	29 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Mann, Primitive Methodist

731

30 January 1907

John Dean
Margaret Louisa Morrison

John Dean
Margaret Louisa Morrison
💍 1907/1266

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic Duties

34
30

Geraldine
Geraldine

3 days
30 years

St. Mary's Church, Geraldine

07/1346

30 January 1907

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	731
Date of Notice	30 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dean	Margaret Louisa Morrison
	💍 1907/1266
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic Duties
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 days	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Geraldine
Folio	07/1346
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

732

11 February 1907

Daniel McSweeney
Ellen Wright

Daniel McSweeney
Ellen Wright
💍 1907/1245

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotelkeeper
Housekeeper

35
21

Rangitata
Rangitata

1 year
21 years

Roman Catholic Church Geraldine

07/1349

11 February 1907

Very Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

No	732
Date of Notice	11 February 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel McSweeney	Ellen Wright
	💍 1907/1245
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotelkeeper	Housekeeper
Age	35	21
Dwelling Place	Rangitata	Rangitata
Length of Residence	1 year	21 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Geraldine
Folio	07/1349
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1907
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

733

6 March 1907

Benjamin Thomas Evans
Alice Maude Eveline Taylor

Benjamin Thomas Evans
Alice Maud Eveline Taylor
💍 1907/1267

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

38
26

Arundel
Belfield, Orari

2 months
20 years

Church of Holy Trinity Orari

07/1347

6 March 1907

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	733
Date of Notice	6 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Thomas Evans	Alice Maude Eveline Taylor
BDM Match (98%)	Benjamin Thomas Evans	Alice Maud Eveline Taylor
	💍 1907/1267
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	38	26
Dwelling Place	Arundel	Belfield, Orari
Length of Residence	2 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Church of Holy Trinity Orari
Folio	07/1347
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

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).