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 674

District of Mataura Quarter ending 31 March 1907 Registrar Andrew Craig

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

317

14 January 1907

James Steven Gilmour
Rachael Nichelson McDonald

James Steven Gilmour
Rachael Nicholson McDonald
💍 1907/1605

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

29
28

Hedgehope, Mataura
Hedgehope, Mataura

5 years

at office of Registrar, Mataura

07/1719

14 January 1907

A. Craig, Registrar

No	317
Date of Notice	14 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Steven Gilmour	Rachael Nichelson McDonald
BDM Match (98%)	James Steven Gilmour	Rachael Nicholson McDonald
	💍 1907/1605
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Hedgehope, Mataura	Hedgehope, Mataura
Length of Residence	5 years
Marriage Place	at office of Registrar, Mataura
Folio	07/1719
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 January 1907
Officiating Minister	A. Craig, Registrar

318

6 February 1907

James Mutch
Mary Walker

James Mutch
Mary Walker
💍 1907/1606

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

31
23

Mataura
Mataura

3 days
23 years

at House of Mr. Wm. Walker, Waimumu Mataura

07/1720

6 February 1907

Rev. George McDonald

No	318
Date of Notice	6 February 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Mutch	Mary Walker
	💍 1907/1606
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Mataura	Mataura
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	at House of Mr. Wm. Walker, Waimumu Mataura
Folio	07/1720
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 February 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. George McDonald

319

4 March 1907

John Francis McNeil
Lucy Ethel Finch

John Frances McNeil
Lucy Ethel Finch
💍 1907/1607

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22
19

Tuturau, Mataura
Tuturau, Mataura

7 months
11 years

at House of Mr. E. Finch, Tuturau

07/1722

Edward Finch Father

4 March 1907

Rev. A. Wingfield

No	319
Date of Notice	4 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Francis McNeil	Lucy Ethel Finch
BDM Match (97%)	John Frances McNeil	Lucy Ethel Finch
	💍 1907/1607
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Tuturau, Mataura	Tuturau, Mataura
Length of Residence	7 months	11 years
Marriage Place	at House of Mr. E. Finch, Tuturau
Folio	07/1722
Consent	Edward Finch Father
Date of Certificate	4 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Wingfield

320

13 March 1907

Thomas Leadbetter
Sarah McCartney

Thomas Leadbetter
Sarah McCartney
💍 1907/1604

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

22
31

Mataura
Mataura

2 weeks
2 months

at Registrar's Office, Mataura

07/1718

13 March 1907

A. Craig, Registrar

No	320
Date of Notice	13 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Leadbetter	Sarah McCartney
	💍 1907/1604
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	22	31
Dwelling Place	Mataura	Mataura
Length of Residence	2 weeks	2 months
Marriage Place	at Registrar's Office, Mataura
Folio	07/1718
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1907
Officiating Minister	A. Craig, Registrar

321

20 March 1907

Charles Corfe Halliday Evison
Kate Balneaves

Charles Corfe Halliday Evison
Kate Balneaves
💍 1907/5749

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

30
23

Mataura
Mataura

3 days
23 years

at House of Mr. A. Balneaves, Mataura

07/1721

20 March 1907

Rev. George McDonald

No	321
Date of Notice	20 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Corfe Halliday Evison	Kate Balneaves
	💍 1907/5749
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Mataura	Mataura
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	at House of Mr. A. Balneaves, Mataura
Folio	07/1721
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. George McDonald

322

27 March 1907

William Henry Stephenson
Beatrice Helen Sleeman

William Henry Stephenson
Beatrice Helen Sleeman
💍 1907/2238

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer

26
21

Mataura
Mataura

3 days
21 years

at House of Mr. S. Sleeman, Mataura

07/2365

27 March 1907

Rev. Jas. A. Hosking

No	322
Date of Notice	27 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Stephenson	Beatrice Helen Sleeman
	💍 1907/2238
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Mataura	Mataura
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	at House of Mr. S. Sleeman, Mataura
Folio	07/2365
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. A. Hosking

323

27 March 1907

John Latham Taylor
Florence McLeod

John Latham Taylor
Florence McLeod
💍 1907/1603

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

27
24

Mataura
Mataura

3 days
24 years

at House of Mr. Neil McLeod, Mataura

07/1717

27 March 1907

Rev. Thos. J. Bull

No	323
Date of Notice	27 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Latham Taylor	Florence McLeod
	💍 1907/1603
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Mataura	Mataura
Length of Residence	3 days	24 years
Marriage Place	at House of Mr. Neil McLeod, Mataura
Folio	07/1717
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. J. Bull

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).