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 471

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 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

424

27 August 1907

Christian Laurest Matheson
Margaret Elizabeth Tohill

Christian Laurest Matheson
Margaret Elizabeth Tohill
💍 1907/5857

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

36 years
24 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In St. Patrick's Basilica, South Dunedin

07/5837

27 August 1907

M. Howard

No	424
Date of Notice	27 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Christian Laurest Matheson	Margaret Elizabeth Tohill
	💍 1907/5857
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	36 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In St. Patrick's Basilica, South Dunedin
Folio	07/5837
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 August 1907
Officiating Minister	M. Howard

425

28 August 1907

Lindsay Charles Henry Stables
Fanny Leah Naphtali

Lindsay Charles Henry Stables
Fanny Leah Naphtali
💍 1907/5784

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

32 years
24 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

32 years
24 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

07/5773

28 August 1907

H. Maxwell

No	425
Date of Notice	28 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lindsay Charles Henry Stables	Fanny Leah Naphtali
	💍 1907/5784
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	32 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	32 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	07/5773
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1907
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

426

29 August 1907

Daniel Callanan
Margaret Jane Arthur

Daniel Callanan
Margaret Jane Arthur
💍 1907/5815

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable

26 years
24 years

Invercargill
North East Valley

7 months
18 months

In the house of Mr. Henry Arthur, 17 Black Road, North East Valley

07/5819

29 August 1907

H. B. Gray

No	426
Date of Notice	29 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Callanan	Margaret Jane Arthur
	💍 1907/5815
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable
Age	26 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	North East Valley
Length of Residence	7 months	18 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Henry Arthur, 17 Black Road, North East Valley
Folio	07/5819
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August 1907
Officiating Minister	H. B. Gray

427

29 August 1907

John Henry Garrett
Louisa Sincock

John Henry Garrett
Louisa Sincock
💍 1907/3914

Bachelor
Spinster

Woodturner

23 years
21 years

North East Valley
Dunedin

23 years
5 years

In the Tabernacle, Great King Street, Dunedin

07/5868

29 August 1907

W. J. Hastie

No	427
Date of Notice	29 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Garrett	Louisa Sincock
	💍 1907/3914
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Woodturner
Age	23 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	Dunedin
Length of Residence	23 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Tabernacle, Great King Street, Dunedin
Folio	07/5868
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 August 1907
Officiating Minister	W. J. Hastie

428

31 August 1907

William Swanerton
Rosa Frederica Henry

William Swanerton
Rosa Fredrica Henry
💍 1907/5846

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Machinist

27 years
21 years

Mornington
South Dunedin

27 years
5 years

In the Cargill Road Wesleyan Church, South Dunedin

07/5850

31 August 1907

W. Grigg

No	428
Date of Notice	31 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Swanerton	Rosa Frederica Henry
BDM Match (98%)	William Swanerton	Rosa Fredrica Henry
	💍 1907/5846
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Machinist
Age	27 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Mornington	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	27 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Cargill Road Wesleyan Church, South Dunedin
Folio	07/5850
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1907
Officiating Minister	W. Grigg

429

31 August 1907

Edward Young Aitken
Ellen Eason Dick

Edward Young Aitken
Ellen Eason Dick
💍 1907/5804

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

24 years
24 years

Sandymount
Sandymount

24 years
24 years

In the Presbyterian Church, Sandymount

07/5807

31 August 1907

J. Erwin

No	429
Date of Notice	31 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Young Aitken	Ellen Eason Dick
	💍 1907/5804
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	24 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Sandymount	Sandymount
Length of Residence	24 years	24 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, Sandymount
Folio	07/5807
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1907
Officiating Minister	J. Erwin

430

31 August 1907

Edmund David Watts
Edith Rosa Ireland

Edmund David Watts
Edith Rosa Ireland
💍 1907/5796

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant Tailor
Milliner

22 years
27 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
2 months

In the Knox Church, Dunedin

07/5800

31 August 1907

Wm. Hewitson

No	430
Date of Notice	31 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edmund David Watts	Edith Rosa Ireland
	💍 1907/5796
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant Tailor	Milliner
Age	22 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	2 months
Marriage Place	In the Knox Church, Dunedin
Folio	07/5800
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Wm. Hewitson

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).