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 535

District of East Taieri Quarter ending 31 December 1907 Registrar Gilbert Burness Burns

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 October 1907

Peter Liston Brown
Lilly Frew

Peter Liston Brown
Lilly Frew
💍 1907/7906

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

24
24

Mosgiel, Otago
Mossburn, Otago

3 days
20 years

House of Andrew Frew, Mossburn, Otago

07/7900

8 October 1907

Rev. J. Aitken, Mosgiel

No	17
Date of Notice	8 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Liston Brown	Lilly Frew
	💍 1907/7906
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mossburn, Otago
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Andrew Frew, Mossburn, Otago
Folio	07/7900
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Aitken, Mosgiel

11 October 1907

Malcolm Carmichael
Marion Imrie

Malcolm Carmichael
Marion Jurie
💍 1907/8052

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
27

Riverside, East Taieri, Otago
East Taieri, Otago

30 years
8 years

The Manse, East Taieri, Otago

07/8156

11 October 1907

Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

No	18
Date of Notice	11 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Malcolm Carmichael	Marion Imrie
BDM Match (92%)	Malcolm Carmichael	Marion Jurie
	💍 1907/8052
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Riverside, East Taieri, Otago	East Taieri, Otago
Length of Residence	30 years	8 years
Marriage Place	The Manse, East Taieri, Otago
Folio	07/8156
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

16 October 1907

William Thomas
Margaret Julia McCaughan

William Thomas
Margaret Julia McCaughan
💍 1907/7910

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

20
45

White Swamp, Otago
White Swamp, Otago

1 year
6 months

Office of Registrar, Mosgiel, Otago

07/7904

Sarah A. E. Thomas, mother

16 October 1907

G. B. Burns

No	19
Date of Notice	16 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas	Margaret Julia McCaughan
	💍 1907/7910
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	20	45
Dwelling Place	White Swamp, Otago	White Swamp, Otago
Length of Residence	1 year	6 months
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	07/7904
Consent	Sarah A. E. Thomas, mother
Date of Certificate	16 October 1907
Officiating Minister	G. B. Burns

21 October 1907

Thomas Hector McCaughan
Sarah Ann Elizabeth Thomas

Thomas Hector McCaughan
Sarah Ann Elizabeth Thomas
💍 1907/7911

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer

21
45

White Swamp, Otago
White Swamp, Otago

4 weeks
1 year

Office of Registrar, Mosgiel, Otago

07/7905

21 October 1907

G. B. Burns

No	20
Date of Notice	21 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Hector McCaughan	Sarah Ann Elizabeth Thomas
	💍 1907/7911
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer
Age	21	45
Dwelling Place	White Swamp, Otago	White Swamp, Otago
Length of Residence	4 weeks	1 year
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	07/7905
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1907
Officiating Minister	G. B. Burns

28 October 1907

John Dryden
Sarah Isabella Todd

John Dryden
Sarah Isabella Todd
💍 1907/8053

Bachelor
Spinster

Loom Tuner

33
30

Mosgiel, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

33 years
2 months

House of Mr. A. Todd, Mosgiel, Otago

07/8157

28 October 1907

Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

No	21
Date of Notice	28 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Dryden	Sarah Isabella Todd
	💍 1907/8053
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Loom Tuner
Age	33	30
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	33 years	2 months
Marriage Place	House of Mr. A. Todd, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	07/8157
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

18 November 1907

Adam Begg Law
Flora Harris

Adam Begg Law
Flora Harris
💍 1907/7908

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter

26
27

Mosgiel, Otago
Saddle Hill, Otago

3 weeks
27 years

House of Adam Harris, Saddle Hill, Otago

07/7902

18 November 1907

Rev. A. C. Randerson, Mosgiel

No	22
Date of Notice	18 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam Begg Law	Flora Harris
	💍 1907/7908
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Saddle Hill, Otago
Length of Residence	3 weeks	27 years
Marriage Place	House of Adam Harris, Saddle Hill, Otago
Folio	07/7902
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. C. Randerson, Mosgiel

19 November 1907

Alexander Kidd Miller
Jane Law Blair

Alexander Kidd Miller
Jane Law Blair
💍 1907/8054

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

25
30

Saddle Hill, Otago
East Taieri, Otago

25 years
30 years

House of Mrs. Ann Blair, East Taieri, Otago

07/8158

19 November 1907

Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

No	23
Date of Notice	19 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Kidd Miller	Jane Law Blair
	💍 1907/8054
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	25	30
Dwelling Place	Saddle Hill, Otago	East Taieri, Otago
Length of Residence	25 years	30 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Ann Blair, East Taieri, Otago
Folio	07/8158
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. W. Kinmont, East Taieri

30 November 1907

John Baillie Paton
Christina Fleming

John Baillie Paton
Christina Fleming
💍 1907/7907

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

27
24

Mosgiel, Otago
Mosgiel, Otago

3 days
20 years

House of James Fleming, Mosgiel, Otago

07/7901

30 November 1907

Rev. J. Aitken, Mosgiel

No	24
Date of Notice	30 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Baillie Paton	Christina Fleming
	💍 1907/7907
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Mosgiel, Otago	Mosgiel, Otago
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	House of James Fleming, Mosgiel, Otago
Folio	07/7901
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Aitken, Mosgiel

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).