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 809

District of Tokomairiro Quarter ending 30 June 1907 Registrar A. W. Oxley

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

9 April 1907

Douglas Lewellyn Hatton
Margaret Swinton Dickson

Douglas Llewellyn Hatton
Margaret Swinton Dickson
💍 1907/4501

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Domestic duties

26
26

Milton
Milton

5 years
26 years

Presbyterian Church, Milton

07/3811

9 April 1907

Rev. G. Miller

No	36
Date of Notice	9 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Douglas Lewellyn Hatton	Margaret Swinton Dickson
BDM Match (98%)	Douglas Llewellyn Hatton	Margaret Swinton Dickson
	💍 1907/4501
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Domestic duties
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Milton	Milton
Length of Residence	5 years	26 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Milton
Folio	07/3811
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Miller

15 April 1907

Murdoch Murray
Mary Roberts Hamilton

Murdoch Murray
Mary Roberts Hamilton
💍 1907/4503

Bachelor
Spinster

Rly Ganger
Domestic duties

31
25

Chatto Creek
Milton

2 months
25 years

Mr H Hamilton residence, Milton

07/3812

17 April 1907

Rev. W. H. Howes

No	37
Date of Notice	15 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Murdoch Murray	Mary Roberts Hamilton
BDM Match (98%)	Murdoch Murray	Mary Roberts Hamilton
	💍 1907/4503
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Rly Ganger	Domestic duties
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Chatto Creek	Milton
Length of Residence	2 months	25 years
Marriage Place	Mr H Hamilton residence, Milton
Folio	07/3812
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Howes

26 April 1907

Robert Matthew Tweed
Margaret Robinson

Robert Mathew Tweed
Margaret Robinson
💍 1907/4683

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

31
27

Crichton
Moneymore

6 years
27 years

Mr Tweeds House, Lovells Flat

07/4046

26 April 1907

Rev. P. B. Fraser

No	38
Date of Notice	26 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Matthew Tweed	Margaret Robinson
BDM Match (98%)	Robert Mathew Tweed	Margaret Robinson
	💍 1907/4683
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	31	27
Dwelling Place	Crichton	Moneymore
Length of Residence	6 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Mr Tweeds House, Lovells Flat
Folio	07/4046
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. B. Fraser

2 May 1907

Hugh McGregor
Marion Gordon

Hugh McGregor
Marion Gordon
💍 1907/3380

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic duties

24
21

Alexandra South
Milton

6 months
21 years

Registrar's Office

07/4149

2 May 1907

A. W. Oxley, Registrar

No	39
Date of Notice	2 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh McGregor	Marion Gordon
	💍 1907/3380
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic duties
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Alexandra South	Milton
Length of Residence	6 months	21 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office
Folio	07/4149
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 May 1907
Officiating Minister	A. W. Oxley, Registrar

31 May 1907

James McGrouther
Jeannie Ann Matthews

James McGrouther
Jeannie Ann Matthews
💍 1907/4500

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

28
28

Millburn
Millburn

28 years
28 years

House of C. Matthews, Millburn

07/3810

31 May 1907

Rev. W. H. Howes

No	40
Date of Notice	31 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McGrouther	Jeannie Ann Matthews
	💍 1907/4500
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Millburn	Millburn
Length of Residence	28 years	28 years
Marriage Place	House of C. Matthews, Millburn
Folio	07/3810
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. H. Howes

5 June 1907

William McDonald
Mary Fraser

William McDonald
Mary Fraser
💍 1907/4499

Bachelor
Spinster

Presbyterian Clergyman
School Teacher

39
31

Dunedin
Waipu

3 days
3 weeks

House of Mr. M. Finch, Milton

07/3809

5 June 1907

Rev. J. McColl

No	41
Date of Notice	5 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McDonald	Mary Fraser
	💍 1907/4499
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Presbyterian Clergyman	School Teacher
Age	39	31
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Waipu
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	House of Mr. M. Finch, Milton
Folio	07/3809
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. McColl

24 June 1907

Henry William Erskine Sell
Isabella Cousins

Henry William Erskine Sell
Isabella Cousins
💍 1907/4498

Bachelor
Spinster

Horse Breaker
Domestic Duties

27
23

Milton
Tuapeka West

4 1/2 years
23 years

House of Mr D. Sanson, Milton

07/3808

24 June 1907

Rev. G. Miller

No	42
Date of Notice	24 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Erskine Sell	Isabella Cousins
	💍 1907/4498
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Horse Breaker	Domestic Duties
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Milton	Tuapeka West
Length of Residence	4 1/2 years	23 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr D. Sanson, Milton
Folio	07/3808
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Miller

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).