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 436

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 June 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

206

2 April 1907

William Archibald Russell
Ella Rosa Say

William Archibald Russell
Ella Rosa Say
💍 1907/3226

Bachelor
Spinster

Agent

33 years
33 years

Dunedin
St Kilda

20 years
3 years

In St Peters Church, Caversham

07/3668

2 April 1907

B. M. King

No	206
Date of Notice	2 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Archibald Russell	Ella Rosa Say
	💍 1907/3226
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Agent
Age	33 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	St Kilda
Length of Residence	20 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In St Peters Church, Caversham
Folio	07/3668
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1907
Officiating Minister	B. M. King

207

2 April 1907

John Brown
Louisa Margaret Parkerson

John Brown
Louisa Margaret Parkerson
💍 1907/4400

Widower
Spinster

Miner

32 years
35 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
10 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriage, Dunedin

07/3585

2 April 1907

H. Maxwell

No	207
Date of Notice	2 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Brown	Louisa Margaret Parkerson
	💍 1907/4400
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	32 years	35 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriage, Dunedin
Folio	07/3585
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1907
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

208

2 April 1907

Benjamin Lawrence Malmanche
Adelaide Kirwin

Benjamin Lawrence Malmanche
Adelaide Kirwin
💍 1907/4381

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Nurse

41 years
38 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the office of the Registrar of Marriage, Dunedin

07/3582

2 April 1907

H. Maxwell

No	208
Date of Notice	2 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Benjamin Lawrence Malmanche	Adelaide Kirwin
	💍 1907/4381
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Nurse
Age	41 years	38 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriage, Dunedin
Folio	07/3582
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1907
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

209

2 April 1907

Thomas Francis Leihy
Eva Wren

Thomas Francis Leihy
Eva Wren
💍 1907/4604

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant

34 years
26 years

Roslyn
Dunedin

3 days
10 years

In St Josephs Cathedral, Dunedin

07/3963

2 April 1907

H. W. Cleary

No	209
Date of Notice	2 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Francis Leihy	Eva Wren
	💍 1907/4604
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant
Age	34 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	In St Josephs Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	07/3963
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1907
Officiating Minister	H. W. Cleary

210

3 April 1907

William Francis Wellwood
Catherine Baskiville

William Francis Wellwood
Catherine Baskiville
💍 1907/4603

Bachelor
Spinster

Auctioneer
Saleswoman

26 years
24 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
9 months

In the vestry of St Josephs Cathedral, Dunedin

07/3962

3 April 1907

Wm Corcoran

No	210
Date of Notice	3 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Francis Wellwood	Catherine Baskiville
	💍 1907/4603
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Auctioneer	Saleswoman
Age	26 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	9 months
Marriage Place	In the vestry of St Josephs Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	07/3962
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Wm Corcoran

211

3 April 1907

William Ernest Hutchings
Edith Marshall Cotter

William Ernest Hutchings
Edith Marshall Cotter
💍 1907/2828

Bachelor
Spinster

Farrier

27 years
24 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

27 years
24 years

In St Matthews Church, Dunedin

07/3676

3 April 1907

Mr Curzon-Siggers

No	211
Date of Notice	3 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ernest Hutchings	Edith Marshall Cotter
	💍 1907/2828
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farrier
Age	27 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	27 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In St Matthews Church, Dunedin
Folio	07/3676
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Mr Curzon-Siggers

212

3 April 1907

John Peter Arthur
Ellen Isabel Arthur

John Peter Arthur
Ellen Isabel Arthur
💍 1907/4392

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

23 years
22 years

Dunedin
Roslyn

3 years
8 months

In the office of the Registrar of Marriage, Dunedin

07/3583

3 April 1907

H. Maxwell

No	212
Date of Notice	3 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Peter Arthur	Ellen Isabel Arthur
	💍 1907/4392
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	23 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Roslyn
Length of Residence	3 years	8 months
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriage, Dunedin
Folio	07/3583
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1907
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

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).