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 288

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 March 1907 Registrar Alexander Montgomery

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

2 January 1907

George Robinson
Ethel Adeline Smith

George Robinson
Ethel Adeline Smith
💍 1907/1342

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailors Cutter
Domestic Duties

34
30

Timaru
Timaru

11 months
15 years

Wesleyan Church, Timaru

07/1423

2 January 1907

Rev. S.J. Serpell, Wesleyan Minister

No	1
Date of Notice	2 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Robinson	Ethel Adeline Smith
	💍 1907/1342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailors Cutter	Domestic Duties
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	11 months	15 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Timaru
Folio	07/1423
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. S.J. Serpell, Wesleyan Minister

3 January 1907

Leonard Hewitt
Frances Orme Webb

Leonard Hewitt
Frances Orma Webb
💍 1907/1892

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Household Duties

32
24

Timaru
Wellington

1 year
4 years

St. Pauls English Church Wellington

07/2005

3 January 1907

Rev. T.H. Sprott, Church of England Clergyman

No	2
Date of Notice	3 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Hewitt	Frances Orme Webb
BDM Match (97%)	Leonard Hewitt	Frances Orma Webb
	💍 1907/1892
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Household Duties
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Wellington
Length of Residence	1 year	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Pauls English Church Wellington
Folio	07/2005
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. T.H. Sprott, Church of England Clergyman

9 January 1907

Charles Christopher Dunford
Catherine Elizabeth Enright

Charles Christopher Dunford
Catherine Elizabeth Enright
💍 1907/1295

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Household Duties

24
29

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
5 months

Roman Catholic Church Timaru

07/1399

9 January 1907

Rev. John Bowden, Roman Catholic Priest

No	3
Date of Notice	9 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Christopher Dunford	Catherine Elizabeth Enright
	💍 1907/1295
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Household Duties
Age	24	29
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	5 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Timaru
Folio	07/1399
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Bowden, Roman Catholic Priest

17 January 1907

James Holme
Sarah Ann Robertson

James Holme
Sarah Anne Robertson
💍 1907/1309

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Nurse

69
47

Timaru
Timaru

4 months
20 years

English Church St. Marys Timaru

07/1412

17 January 1907

Archdeacon H.W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

No	4
Date of Notice	17 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Holme	Sarah Ann Robertson
BDM Match (98%)	James Holme	Sarah Anne Robertson
	💍 1907/1309
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	69	47
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 months	20 years
Marriage Place	English Church St. Marys Timaru
Folio	07/1412
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon H.W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

17 January 1907

Andrew Rankin
Mary Elizabeth Dunn

Andrew Rankin
Mary Elizabeth Dunn
💍 1907/1338

Bachelor
Spinster

Shopman
Waitress

25
21

Timaru
Timaru

4 years
2 years

Dwellinghouse of Richard Edward Dunn, Rosslyn Terrace, Timaru

07/1419

17 January 1907

Rev. Robert Jackson, Presbyterian Minister

No	5
Date of Notice	17 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Rankin	Mary Elizabeth Dunn
	💍 1907/1338
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shopman	Waitress
Age	25	21
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Richard Edward Dunn, Rosslyn Terrace, Timaru
Folio	07/1419
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Robert Jackson, Presbyterian Minister

21 January 1907

James Valentine Meech
Jane Cunning Bell

James Valentine Meech
Jane Gunning Bell
💍 1907/1300

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm-hand
Cook

37
31

Timaru
Timaru

6 days
7 days

Registrar's Office Timaru

07/1404

21 January 1907

Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

No	6
Date of Notice	21 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Valentine Meech	Jane Cunning Bell
BDM Match (97%)	James Valentine Meech	Jane Gunning Bell
	💍 1907/1300
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm-hand	Cook
Age	37	31
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 days	7 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Timaru
Folio	07/1404
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

21 January 1907

Samuel Dale
Edith Mary Dale

Samuel Dale
Edith Mary Dale
💍 1907/1310

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Station Master
Household Duties

36
28

Washdyke Timaru
Washdyke Timaru

3 days
3 days

St. Mary's English Church Timaru

07/1413

21 January 1907

Rev. T.M. Curnow, Church of England Clergyman

No	7
Date of Notice	21 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Dale	Edith Mary Dale
	💍 1907/1310
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Station Master	Household Duties
Age	36	28
Dwelling Place	Washdyke Timaru	Washdyke Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's English Church Timaru
Folio	07/1413
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. T.M. Curnow, Church of England Clergyman

22 January 1907

John McCabe
Hannah Grace

John McCabe
Hannah Grace
💍 1907/1296

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic Duties

26
20

Timaru
Timaru

14 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Church Timaru

07/1400

Benjamin Brosnahan, Guardian

22 January 1907

Rev. John Bowden, Roman Catholic Priest

No	8
Date of Notice	22 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McCabe	Hannah Grace
	💍 1907/1296
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic Duties
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	14 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Timaru
Folio	07/1400
Consent	Benjamin Brosnahan, Guardian
Date of Certificate	22 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Bowden, Roman Catholic Priest

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).