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 417

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1907 Registrar Henry Maxwell

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

16 February 1907

Henry Turner
Ellen Ann Williams

Henry Turner
Ellen Ann Williams
💍 1907/1452

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

27
28

Dunedin
Dunedin

27 years
28 years

In the Baptist Church, Hanover Street, Dunedin

07/1541

16 February 1907

W. Hay

No	90
Date of Notice	16 February 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Turner	Ellen Ann Williams
	💍 1907/1452
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	27	28
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	27 years	28 years
Marriage Place	In the Baptist Church, Hanover Street, Dunedin
Folio	07/1541
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1907
Officiating Minister	W. Hay

16 February 1907

Thomas Wilson Potts
Hern Marie Rapley

Thomas Wilson Potts
Hern Marie Rapley
💍 1907/1477

Bachelor
Spinster

Mercer

26
23

Caversham
Caversham

3 days
2 years

In the house of Mr. J. H. Lambert, Main Street, Caversham

07/1586

16 February 1907

R. R. Shore

No	91
Date of Notice	16 February 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Wilson Potts	Hern Marie Rapley
	💍 1907/1477
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mercer
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. J. H. Lambert, Main Street, Caversham
Folio	07/1586
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 February 1907
Officiating Minister	R. R. Shore

18 February 1907

James Frew Strang
Annie Priscilla Uttley

James Frew Strang
Annie Priscilla Uttley
💍 1907/1540

Bachelor
Spinster

Manufacturer
Saleswoman

26
25

Dunedin
Caversham

5 days
3 years

In the Congregational Church, Great King Street, Dunedin

07/1652

18 February 1907

Geo: Heighway

No	92
Date of Notice	18 February 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Frew Strang	Annie Priscilla Uttley
	💍 1907/1540
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Manufacturer	Saleswoman
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Caversham
Length of Residence	5 days	3 years
Marriage Place	In the Congregational Church, Great King Street, Dunedin
Folio	07/1652
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1907
Officiating Minister	Geo: Heighway

18 February 1907

William Nelson Paul
Isabella McGregor Gay

William Nelson Paul
Isabella McGregor Gay
💍 1907/1516

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer

31
31

Dunedin
Dunedin

31 years
31 years

In the house of Mrs. Margaret Gay, 216 Castle Street, Dunedin

07/1628

18 February 1907

Wm. Hewitson

No	93
Date of Notice	18 February 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Nelson Paul	Isabella McGregor Gay
	💍 1907/1516
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer
Age	31	31
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	31 years	31 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Margaret Gay, 216 Castle Street, Dunedin
Folio	07/1628
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1907
Officiating Minister	Wm. Hewitson

18 February 1907

Charles Ovens
Florence May Robertson

Charles Ovens
Florence May Robertson
💍 1907/1488

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Weaver

24
25

Roslyn
Roslyn

24 years
11 years

In St. John's Church, Roslyn

07/1590

18 February 1907

H. W. L. Snow

No	94
Date of Notice	18 February 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Ovens	Florence May Robertson
	💍 1907/1488
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Weaver
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Roslyn
Length of Residence	24 years	11 years
Marriage Place	In St. John's Church, Roslyn
Folio	07/1590
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1907
Officiating Minister	H. W. L. Snow

18 February 1907

Henry James Simon
Fanny Maitland Morrison

Henry James Simon
Fanny Maitland Morrison
💍 1907/1412

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Trainer

29
23

Dunedin
Dunedin

6 weeks
1 month

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

07/1495

18 February 1907

H. Maxwell

No	95
Date of Notice	18 February 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Simon	Fanny Maitland Morrison
	💍 1907/1412
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Trainer
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 weeks	1 month
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	07/1495
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1907
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

18 February 1907

Alexander Burns
Louisa Catherine Keenan

Alexander Burns
Louisa Catherine Kernan
💍 1907/1460

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

30
33

Dunedin
Roslyn

26 years
5 years

In the house of Colin Miller, Burnside

07/1549

18 February 1907

R. R. M. Sutherland

No	96
Date of Notice	18 February 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Burns	Louisa Catherine Keenan
BDM Match (98%)	Alexander Burns	Louisa Catherine Kernan
	💍 1907/1460
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	30	33
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Roslyn
Length of Residence	26 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Colin Miller, Burnside
Folio	07/1549
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 February 1907
Officiating Minister	R. R. M. Sutherland

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).