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 218

District of Malvern Quarter ending 31 December 1907 Registrar A.C. Truman

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

4 October 1907

James Dysart
Helen McKenzie Wills

James Dysart
Helen McKenzie Wills
💍 1907/7645

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

37
28

Kirwee
Courtenay

37 years
18 years

House of Mr Wills, Courtney Christchurch District

07/7480

4 October 1907

Rev. W. W. Ewart

No	11
Date of Notice	4 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Dysart	Helen McKenzie Wills
	💍 1907/7645
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	37	28
Dwelling Place	Kirwee	Courtenay
Length of Residence	37 years	18 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Wills, Courtney Christchurch District
Folio	07/7480
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. W. Ewart

5 October 1907

James Reid
Margaret Gillanders

James Reid
Margaret Gillanders
💍 1907/6805

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

41
40

Darfield
Darfield

21 years
4 years

House of Mr Donald Gillanders, Darfield

07/8126

5 October 1907

Rev. W. A. Kyd

No	12
Date of Notice	5 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Reid	Margaret Gillanders
	💍 1907/6805
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	41	40
Dwelling Place	Darfield	Darfield
Length of Residence	21 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Donald Gillanders, Darfield
Folio	07/8126
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Kyd

7 October 1907

Charles Leonard Newton
Williamina Morris

Charles Leonard Newton
Wilhelmina Morris
💍 1907/8080

Bachelor
Spinster

Stonemason
Domestic Duties

33
29

Christchurch
Charing Cross

30 years
7 years

Mr W Morris Residence, Charing Cross

07/8186

7 October 1907

Rev. W. A. Kyd

No	13
Date of Notice	7 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Leonard Newton	Williamina Morris
BDM Match (91%)	Charles Leonard Newton	Wilhelmina Morris
	💍 1907/8080
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stonemason	Domestic Duties
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Charing Cross
Length of Residence	30 years	7 years
Marriage Place	Mr W Morris Residence, Charing Cross
Folio	07/8186
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Kyd

22 October 1907

William Henry Whitley
Agnes Preston Morris

William Henry Whitley
Agnes Preston Morris
💍 1907/8059

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Domestic Duties

24
23

Christchurch
Charing Cross

24 years
3 days

Mr W Morris Residence Charing Cross

07/8187

22 October 1907

Rev. W. A. Kyd

No	14
Date of Notice	22 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Whitley	Agnes Preston Morris
	💍 1907/8059
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Domestic Duties
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Charing Cross
Length of Residence	24 years	3 days
Marriage Place	Mr W Morris Residence Charing Cross
Folio	07/8187
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Kyd

19 November 1907

John Hight
Mary McLaughlin

John Edward Hight
Mary McLaughlin
💍 1907/7796

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Platelayer
Domestic Duties

27
27

Ethelton
Darfield

2 months
3 years

Roman Catholic Church, Darfield

07/7660

19 November 1907

Rev. P. Ahern

No	15
Date of Notice	19 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hight	Mary McLaughlin
BDM Match (79%)	John Edward Hight	Mary McLaughlin
	💍 1907/7796
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Platelayer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	27
Dwelling Place	Ethelton	Darfield
Length of Residence	2 months	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Darfield
Folio	07/7660
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Ahern

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).