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 549

District of Gabriels Quarter ending 30 September 1907 Registrar Alexander Millar Eyes

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

193

25 July 1907

William Gilchrist McKinley
Elizabeth Lucy Mackay

William Gilchrist McKinlay
Elizabeth Lucy MacKay
💍 1907/5793

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

36
34

Lawrence
Dunedin

36 years
17 years

House of Mrs. Mackay, 47 Littlebourne Road, Roslyn, Dunedin

07/5797

25 July 1907

Rev. Wm. Hewitson, Presbyterian

No	193
Date of Notice	25 July 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Gilchrist McKinley	Elizabeth Lucy Mackay
BDM Match (96%)	William Gilchrist McKinlay	Elizabeth Lucy MacKay
	💍 1907/5793
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	36	34
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Dunedin
Length of Residence	36 years	17 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Mackay, 47 Littlebourne Road, Roslyn, Dunedin
Folio	07/5797
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 July 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Hewitson, Presbyterian

194

14 August 1907

Alexander Frederick Read
Helen Dalziel

Alexander Frederick Read
Helen Dalziel
💍 1907/3919

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
26

Tuapeka West
Tuapeka West

14 days
26 years

House of Mrs. Dalziel Senr., Tuapeka West

07/5873

14 August 1907

Mr. Wm. Fleming, Presbyterian Missionary

No	194
Date of Notice	14 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Frederick Read	Helen Dalziel
	💍 1907/3919
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Tuapeka West	Tuapeka West
Length of Residence	14 days	26 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. Dalziel Senr., Tuapeka West
Folio	07/5873
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Mr. Wm. Fleming, Presbyterian Missionary

195

22 August 1907

Francis Browne
Fanny Louisa Mitchell

Francis Brown
Fanny Louisa Mitchell
💍 1907/8146

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Laborer

32
28

Blue Spur
Blue Spur

1 week
1 week

Wesleyan Church, Blue Spur

07/5874

22 August 1907

Rev. J. J. Pendray, Wesleyan

No	195
Date of Notice	22 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Browne	Fanny Louisa Mitchell
BDM Match (96%)	Francis Brown	Fanny Louisa Mitchell
	💍 1907/8146
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Laborer
Age	32	28
Dwelling Place	Blue Spur	Blue Spur
Length of Residence	1 week	1 week
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Blue Spur
Folio	07/5874
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Pendray, Wesleyan

196

23 August 1907

William Ross Buchanan
Annie Bowman

William Ross Buchanan
Annie Bowman
💍 1907/6021

Bachelor
Widow

Millowner

47
38

Evansflat
Beaumont

40 years
30 years

House of Mrs. John Carson, Beaumont Road, Lawrence

07/6078

23 August 1907

Rev. R. Scott-Allan, Presbyterian

No	196
Date of Notice	23 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Ross Buchanan	Annie Bowman
	💍 1907/6021
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Millowner
Age	47	38
Dwelling Place	Evansflat	Beaumont
Length of Residence	40 years	30 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs. John Carson, Beaumont Road, Lawrence
Folio	07/6078
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Scott-Allan, Presbyterian

197

3 September 1907

George Edward Cross
Jessie Robertson Blair

George Edward Cross
Jessie Robertson Blair
💍 1907/6022

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
24

Lawrence
Lawrence

3 days
5 weeks

Presbyterian Church, Lawrence

07/6079

3 September 1907

Rev. R. Scott-Allan, Presbyterian

No	197
Date of Notice	3 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Cross	Jessie Robertson Blair
	💍 1907/6022
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Lawrence
Length of Residence	3 days	5 weeks
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Lawrence
Folio	07/6079
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Scott-Allan, Presbyterian

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).