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 294

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 June 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

8 April 1907

Bartholomew Moriarty
Mary Margaret O'Connell

Bartholomew Moriarty
Mary Margaret O'Connell
💍 1907/4337

Bartholomew Moriarty
Mary O'Connell
💍 1907/4893

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Shop Assistant

25 years
22 years

Timaru
Temuka

2 years
10 days

St Joseph's Church, Temuka

07/3544

8 April 1907

Rev. F. Herley, Roman Catholic Priest

No	39
Date of Notice	8 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bartholomew Moriarty	Mary Margaret O'Connell
	💍 1907/4337
BDM Match (80%)	Bartholomew Moriarty	Mary O'Connell
	💍 1907/4893
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Shop Assistant
Age	25 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Temuka
Length of Residence	2 years	10 days
Marriage Place	St Joseph's Church, Temuka
Folio	07/3544
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Herley, Roman Catholic Priest

9 April 1907

William Henry Simmons
Mary Ellen Whittaker

William Henry Simmons
Mary Ellen Whittaker
💍 1907/4782

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

31 years
31 years

Compstall
Timaru

20 years
31 years

Dwellinghouse of Bride, Wilson St.

07/4222

9 April 1907

Rev. S. J. Terpell, Wesleyan Minister

No	40
Date of Notice	9 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Simmons	Mary Ellen Whittaker
	💍 1907/4782
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	31 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Compstall	Timaru
Length of Residence	20 years	31 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Bride, Wilson St.
Folio	07/4222
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. J. Terpell, Wesleyan Minister

10 April 1907

Richard Condon
Eliza Young

Richard Condon
Eliza Young
💍 1907/4380

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic Servant

31 years
23 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 days

Dwellinghouse of Rev. S. Buchanan, Russell Square

07/3565

10 April 1907

Rev. S. Buchanan, Independent Free Church Minister

No	41
Date of Notice	10 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Condon	Eliza Young
	💍 1907/4380
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Servant
Age	31 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Rev. S. Buchanan, Russell Square
Folio	07/3565
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Buchanan, Independent Free Church Minister

10 April 1907

Cecil Cornelius Palmer
Edith Alice Coles

Cecil Cornelius Palmer
Edith Alice Coles
💍 1907/4672

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

24 years
25 years

Levels
Levels

3 days
4 years

Trinity Presbyterian Church, Timaru

07/4059

10 April 1907

Rev. Thos. Hinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	42
Date of Notice	10 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Cornelius Palmer	Edith Alice Coles
	💍 1907/4672
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	24 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Levels	Levels
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Trinity Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	07/4059
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Hinson, Presbyterian Minister

15 April 1907

James Francis McCarthy
Catherine McTague

James Francis McCarthy
Catherine McTague
💍 1907/4643

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Servant

26 years
18 years

St. Andrews
Beaconsfield

26 years
18 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

07/4029

McTague, Father

15 April 1907

Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	43
Date of Notice	15 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Francis McCarthy	Catherine McTague
	💍 1907/4643
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	26 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	St. Andrews	Beaconsfield
Length of Residence	26 years	18 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	07/4029
Consent	McTague, Father
Date of Certificate	15 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

22 April 1907

Henry John Daly
Kate Mulcahy

Henry John Daly
Kate Mulcahy
💍 1907/4644

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

28 years
24 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
24 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

07/4030

22 April 1907

Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	44
Date of Notice	22 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry John Daly	Kate Mulcahy
	💍 1907/4644
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	28 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	07/4030
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

23 April 1907

Jeremiah Joseph O'Brien
Margaret Ann O'Neill

Jeremiah Joseph O'Brien
Margaret Ann O'Neill
💍 1907/4645

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic Duties

25 years
25 years

Timaru
Timaru

6 years
4 days

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

07/4031

23 April 1907

Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	45
Date of Notice	23 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jeremiah Joseph O'Brien	Margaret Ann O'Neill
	💍 1907/4645
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic Duties
Age	25 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	07/4031
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

29 April 1907

John O'Rourke
Eliza Honoria Woodhouse

John O'Rourke
Eliza Honoria Woodhouse
💍 1907/4646

Bachelor
Spinster

Gentleman's Outfitter
Household Duties

49 years
34 years

Timaru
Timaru

27 years
5 months

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

07/4032

29 April 1907

Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	46
Date of Notice	29 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John O'Rourke	Eliza Honoria Woodhouse
	💍 1907/4646
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gentleman's Outfitter	Household Duties
Age	49 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	27 years	5 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	07/4032
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

30 April 1907

James Charles
Margaret Mary Nesbitt

James Charles
Margaret Mary Nisbett
💍 1907/4647

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household Duties

36 years
21 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
4 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

07/4033

30 April 1907

Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	47
Date of Notice	30 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Charles	Margaret Mary Nesbitt
BDM Match (95%)	James Charles	Margaret Mary Nisbett
	💍 1907/4647
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household Duties
Age	36 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	07/4033
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

30 April 1907

Arthur George Watson
Agnes Dick

Arthur George Metson
Agnes Dick
💍 1907/2846

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Household Duties

31 years
23 years

Timaru
Timaru

7 years
10 years

Dwellinghouse of Rev. S. Buchanan, Russell Square, Timaru

07/3556

30 April 1907

Rev. S. Buchanan, Independent Free Church Minister

No	48
Date of Notice	30 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur George Watson	Agnes Dick
BDM Match (95%)	Arthur George Metson	Agnes Dick
	💍 1907/2846
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Household Duties
Age	31 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	7 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Rev. S. Buchanan, Russell Square, Timaru
Folio	07/3556
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Buchanan, Independent Free Church Minister

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).