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 780

District of Riverton Quarter ending 31 December 1907 Registrar Daniel Paul Phillips

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

751

17 October 1907

William Urquhart
Margaret Jane Thomson Williamson

William Urquhart
Margaret Jane Thomson Williamson
💍 1907/4040

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic duties

28
25

Fairfax
Waimatuku

6 years
1 year

Magistrates Courthouse, Riverton

07/8057

17 October 1907

Daniel P. Phillips, Registrar

No	751
Date of Notice	17 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Urquhart	Margaret Jane Thomson Williamson
	💍 1907/4040
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic duties
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Fairfax	Waimatuku
Length of Residence	6 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Magistrates Courthouse, Riverton
Folio	07/8057
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Daniel P. Phillips, Registrar

752

19 October 1907

John Nicholas Ward
Alice Corkin

John Nicholas Ward
Alice Corkin
💍 1907/8040

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill hand
Domestic duties

29
21

Oraki
Oraki

12 months
21 years

Roman Catholic Church, Riverton

07/8163

19 October 1907

Rev. P. Murphy

No	752
Date of Notice	19 October 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Nicholas Ward	Alice Corkin
	💍 1907/8040
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill hand	Domestic duties
Age	29	21
Dwelling Place	Oraki	Oraki
Length of Residence	12 months	21 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Riverton
Folio	07/8163
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 October 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Murphy

753

15 November 1907

William Doull
Mary Duncan

William Douell
Mary Duncan
💍 1907/4041

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Farmer

52
57

Otapiri
Otapiri

3 days in Riverton
3 days in Riverton

Magistrates Courthouse, Riverton

07/8052

15 November 1907

A. T. Cavell, Deputy Registrar

No	753
Date of Notice	15 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Doull	Mary Duncan
BDM Match (96%)	William Douell	Mary Duncan
	💍 1907/4041
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Farmer
Age	52	57
Dwelling Place	Otapiri	Otapiri
Length of Residence	3 days in Riverton	3 days in Riverton
Marriage Place	Magistrates Courthouse, Riverton
Folio	07/8052
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1907
Officiating Minister	A. T. Cavell, Deputy Registrar

754

20 November 1907

John Bird
Margaret Hinton

John Bird
Margaret Hinton
💍 1907/8041

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Surfaceman
Domestic duties

30
27

Lumsden
Oraki

4 days
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Riverton

07/8164

20 November 1907

Rev. P. Murphy

No	754
Date of Notice	20 November 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bird	Margaret Hinton
	💍 1907/8041
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Surfaceman	Domestic duties
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Lumsden	Oraki
Length of Residence	4 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Riverton
Folio	07/8164
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 November 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Murphy

755

4 December 1907

William Knowler
Agnes Leah Whipp

William Knowler
Agnes Leah Whipp
💍 1907/4060

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic duties

25
19

Pahia
Pahia

4 days in Riverton
4 days in Riverton

Wesleyan Church, Riverton

07/8047

Jesse Whipp, father

4 December 1907

Rev. C. A. Foston

No	755
Date of Notice	4 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Knowler	Agnes Leah Whipp
	💍 1907/4060
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Pahia	Pahia
Length of Residence	4 days in Riverton	4 days in Riverton
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Riverton
Folio	07/8047
Consent	Jesse Whipp, father
Date of Certificate	4 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Foston

756

17 December 1907

William Hayes Frew
Bertha Jane Willis

William Hayes Frew
Bertha Jane Willis
💍 1907/4039

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic duties

24
25

Invercargill
Gummies Bush

3 days in Riverton
25 years

Residence of George Willis, Gummies Bush

07/8050

17 December 1907

Rev. J. Morland

No	756
Date of Notice	17 December 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Hayes Frew	Bertha Jane Willis
	💍 1907/4039
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic duties
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Gummies Bush
Length of Residence	3 days in Riverton	25 years
Marriage Place	Residence of George Willis, Gummies Bush
Folio	07/8050
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 December 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Morland

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).