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 170

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 30 September 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

748

6 August 1907

Charles Hall
Edith Annie Hammond

Charles Hall
Edith Annie Hammond
💍 1907/5682

Bachelor
Spinster

Drover
General Servant

28
25

Te Moana
Te Moana

4 days
2 months

The House of Mr. Robert Hammond, Te Moana

07/5663

6 August 1907

Rev. George H. Mann, Primitive Methodist

No	748
Date of Notice	6 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Hall	Edith Annie Hammond
	💍 1907/5682
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drover	General Servant
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Te Moana	Te Moana
Length of Residence	4 days	2 months
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. Robert Hammond, Te Moana
Folio	07/5663
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. George H. Mann, Primitive Methodist

749

8 August 1907

Clarence Frank Palmer
Mary Scobie

Clarence Frank Palmer
Mary Scobie
💍 1907/5684

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

19
20

Rangitata
Orari

2 years
11 years

Church of Holy Trinity, Orari

07/5665

Elizabeth Palmer, mother John Douglas Scobie, father

8 August 1907

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	749
Date of Notice	8 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Clarence Frank Palmer	Mary Scobie
	💍 1907/5684
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	19	20
Dwelling Place	Rangitata	Orari
Length of Residence	2 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Church of Holy Trinity, Orari
Folio	07/5665
Consent	Elizabeth Palmer, mother John Douglas Scobie, father
Date of Certificate	8 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

750

27 August 1907

Daniel Bennett
Rose Emily Beaven

Daniel Bennett
Rose Emily Beavan
💍 1907/5686

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

31
28

Te Kahika Bush
Geraldine

3 weeks
5 years

St. Mary's Church Geraldine

07/5667

27 August 1907

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	750
Date of Notice	27 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Bennett	Rose Emily Beaven
BDM Match (97%)	Daniel Bennett	Rose Emily Beavan
	💍 1907/5686
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Te Kahika Bush	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 weeks	5 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Geraldine
Folio	07/5667
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

751

28 August 1907

William Moore
Mary Ann Connolly

William Moore
Mary Ann Connolly
💍 1907/5683

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

33
23

Kakahu
Kakahu

3 days
23 years

Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine

07/5664

28 August 1907

Very Rev. Henry G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

No	751
Date of Notice	28 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Moore	Mary Ann Connolly
	💍 1907/5683
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	33	23
Dwelling Place	Kakahu	Kakahu
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine
Folio	07/5664
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. Henry G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

752

28 August 1907

John William Henry Tatam
Eveline Rose Blake

John William Henry Tatam
Evelyn Rose Blake
💍 1907/5694

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

34
26

Pleasant Valley
Pleasant Valley

30 years
2 weeks

Church of Holy Trinity, Orari

07/5668

28 August 1907

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	752
Date of Notice	28 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Henry Tatam	Eveline Rose Blake
BDM Match (94%)	John William Henry Tatam	Evelyn Rose Blake
	💍 1907/5694
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Pleasant Valley	Pleasant Valley
Length of Residence	30 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Church of Holy Trinity, Orari
Folio	07/5668
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

753

4 September 1907

Robert James McLean
Mabel Kathleen Richards

Robert James McLean
Mabel Kathleen Richards
💍 1907/5685

Bachelor
Spinster

Saddler
Cook

26
25

Geraldine
Geraldine

3 days
2 months

St. Mary's Church, Geraldine

07/5666

4 September 1907

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	753
Date of Notice	4 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James McLean	Mabel Kathleen Richards
	💍 1907/5685
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Saddler	Cook
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Geraldine
Folio	07/5666
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

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).