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 871

District of Winton Quarter ending 30 June 1907 Registrar William Russell

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

11 April 1907

Charles Robert Brogden
Annie Ellen Cowan

Charles Robert Broberg
Annie Ellen Cowan
💍 1907/4537

Bachelor
Spinster

Detective Officer

36
31

Wellington
Lime Hills

6 days

Home of Mr. Robert Cowan, Lime Hills

07/3823

11 April 1907

Rev. M. Simpson, B.A., Presbyterian

No	5
Date of Notice	11 April 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Robert Brogden	Annie Ellen Cowan
BDM Match (91%)	Charles Robert Broberg	Annie Ellen Cowan
	💍 1907/4537
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Detective Officer
Age	36	31
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Lime Hills
Length of Residence		6 days
Marriage Place	Home of Mr. Robert Cowan, Lime Hills
Folio	07/3823
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Simpson, B.A., Presbyterian

23 May 1907

John Edward Mansfield
Joanna Walsh

John Edward Mansfield
Joanna Walsh
💍 1907/4534

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

33
29

Fern Hills
Fern Hills

4 days
2 years

The Roman Catholic Church, Centre Bush

07/3820

23 May 1907

Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

No	6
Date of Notice	23 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Mansfield	Joanna Walsh
	💍 1907/4534
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Fern Hills	Fern Hills
Length of Residence	4 days	2 years
Marriage Place	The Roman Catholic Church, Centre Bush
Folio	07/3820
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

29 May 1907

William Allan Jenkins
Ellen Jane Plunkett

William Allan Jenkins
Ellen Jane Plunkett
💍 1907/4875

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer

27
32

South Hillend
South Hillend

2 years
20 years

House of Mr. Robert Plunkett, South Hillend

07/4307

29 May 1907

Rev. Arthur Mitchell, Methodist Church, Australasia

No	7
Date of Notice	29 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Allan Jenkins	Ellen Jane Plunkett
	💍 1907/4875
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer
Age	27	32
Dwelling Place	South Hillend	South Hillend
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Robert Plunkett, South Hillend
Folio	07/4307
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Arthur Mitchell, Methodist Church, Australasia

31 May 1907

James Robertson
Flora McRae

James Robertson
Flora McRae
💍 1907/4536

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

37
29

Brown's
Oteperi

30 years
29 years

Roman Catholic Church, Centre Bush

07/3822

31 May 1907

Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

No	8
Date of Notice	31 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Robertson	Flora McRae
	💍 1907/4536
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	37	29
Dwelling Place	Brown's	Oteperi
Length of Residence	30 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Centre Bush
Folio	07/3822
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

1 June 1907

William Richard Bennett
Delia Isabella Logue

William Richard Bennet
Delia Isabela Logue
💍 1907/4535

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Servant

30
21

Oreti Plains
Lime Hills

10 years
14 years

Roman Catholic Church, Centre Bush

07/3821

1 June 1907

Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

No	9
Date of Notice	1 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Richard Bennett	Delia Isabella Logue
BDM Match (95%)	William Richard Bennet	Delia Isabela Logue
	💍 1907/4535
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	30	21
Dwelling Place	Oreti Plains	Lime Hills
Length of Residence	10 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Centre Bush
Folio	07/3821
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

18 June 1907

John Thomas Carroll
Margaret Jane Brown

John Thomas Carroll
Margaret Jane Brown
💍 1907/4685

Bachelor
Spinster

Brick and Tilemaker

24
19

Browns
Hokonui

24 years
19 years

Presbyterian Church, Browns

07/4048

William Henry Brown (Father)

25 June 1907

Rev. Allan H. Ross, Presbyterian Minister

No	10
Date of Notice	18 June 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Carroll	Margaret Jane Brown
	💍 1907/4685
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brick and Tilemaker
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Browns	Hokonui
Length of Residence	24 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Browns
Folio	07/4048
Consent	William Henry Brown (Father)
Date of Certificate	25 June 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. Allan H. Ross, Presbyterian Minister

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).