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 172

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 31 December 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

754

19 October 1907

David Thomas Fraser
Annie Matilda McMaster

David Thomas Fraser
Annie Matilda McMaster
💍 1907/7686

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Dressmaker

30
23

Geraldine
Arundel

10 months
23 years

The House of Mr. Hugh McMaster, Arundel

07/7573

19 October 1907

Rev. William Harris, Presbyterian

No	754
Date of Notice	19 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Thomas Fraser	Annie Matilda McMaster
	💍 1907/7686
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Dressmaker
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Arundel
Length of Residence	10 months	23 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. Hugh McMaster, Arundel
Folio	07/7573
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Harris, Presbyterian

755

28 October 1907

John Kenneth Rose
Lystra Bessie Boughton

John Kenneth Rose
Lystra Bessie Boughton
💍 1907/7684

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

32
26

Orari Bridge
Geraldine

1 year
6 weeks

Primitive Methodist Church, Geraldine

07/7571

28 October 1907

Rev. George H. Mann, Primitive Methodist

No	755
Date of Notice	28 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Kenneth Rose	Lystra Bessie Boughton
	💍 1907/7684
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Orari Bridge	Geraldine
Length of Residence	1 year	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Geraldine
Folio	07/7571
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. George H. Mann, Primitive Methodist

756

4 November 1907

Michael McKendry
Lucy Quaid

Michael McKendry
Lucy Quaid
💍 1907/6803

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Manager
Cook

33
20

Fairfield
Fairfield

4 days
5 weeks

Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine

07/8123

Kyran Quaid, father

4 November 1907

Very Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

No	756
Date of Notice	4 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael McKendry	Lucy Quaid
	💍 1907/6803
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Manager	Cook
Age	33	20
Dwelling Place	Fairfield	Fairfield
Length of Residence	4 days	5 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine
Folio	07/8123
Consent	Kyran Quaid, father
Date of Certificate	4 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. H. G. Bowers, Roman Catholic

757

10 December 1907

Emmanuel Bloomfield
Elizabeth Ann Moore

Emmanuel Bloomfield
Elizabeth Ann Moore
💍 1908/1405

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
General Servant

32
28

Raukapuka
Geraldine

11 months
3 years

St. Mary's Church Geraldine

08/1450

10 December 1907

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	757
Date of Notice	10 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Emmanuel Bloomfield	Elizabeth Ann Moore
	💍 1908/1405
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	General Servant
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Raukapuka	Geraldine
Length of Residence	11 months	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church Geraldine
Folio	08/1450
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

758

16 December 1907

Joseph George Genet
Dora Thursa Hansen

Joseph George Genet
Dora Teresa Hansen
💍 1907/7685

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dressmaker

25
17

Geraldine
Geraldine

3 days
17 years

The House of Mr. Matthias Hansen, Geraldine

07/7572

Matthias Hansen, father

16 December 1907

Rev. George H. Mann, Primitive Methodist

No	758
Date of Notice	16 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph George Genet	Dora Thursa Hansen
BDM Match (92%)	Joseph George Genet	Dora Teresa Hansen
	💍 1907/7685
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	25	17
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 days	17 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. Matthias Hansen, Geraldine
Folio	07/7572
Consent	Matthias Hansen, father
Date of Certificate	16 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. George H. Mann, Primitive Methodist

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).