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 449

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 June 1907

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

283

27 May 1907

Alfred Edward Arundale
Elizabeth Mathieson

Albert Edward Arundale
Elizabeth Mathieson
💍 1907/3166

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman
Tailoress

33 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
23 years

In the house of Mr. Clement Osborne, 12 Harbour Terrace, Dunedin

07/3631

27 May 1907

Wm. Hewitson

No	283
Date of Notice	27 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Edward Arundale	Elizabeth Mathieson
BDM Match (91%)	Albert Edward Arundale	Elizabeth Mathieson
	💍 1907/3166
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman	Tailoress
Age	33 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Clement Osborne, 12 Harbour Terrace, Dunedin
Folio	07/3631
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Wm. Hewitson

284

27 May 1907

James Joseph Nyhon
Jessie McDonald

James Joseph Nyhon
Jessie McDonald
💍 1907/3357

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

35 years
33 years

Peninsula
Dunedin

6 months
3 weeks

In St. Joseph Cathedral, Dunedin

07/3970

27 May 1907

Jas. Coffey

No	284
Date of Notice	27 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Joseph Nyhon	Jessie McDonald
	💍 1907/3357
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	35 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Peninsula	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 months	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	07/3970
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Jas. Coffey

285

27 May 1907

Thomas Ponton
Margaret Hanke

Thomas Ponton
Margaret Hauke
💍 1907/4393

Widower
Widow

Compositor

47 years
57 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

23 years
1 year

In the house of the Rev. Wm. Hay, Cumberland Street, Dunedin

07/3601

27 May 1907

Wm. Hay

No	285
Date of Notice	27 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Ponton	Margaret Hanke
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Ponton	Margaret Hauke
	💍 1907/4393
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Compositor
Age	47 years	57 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	23 years	1 year
Marriage Place	In the house of the Rev. Wm. Hay, Cumberland Street, Dunedin
Folio	07/3601
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Wm. Hay

286

27 May 1907

Herbert Thomas Henry Hofland
Mary Flora Cavanagh

Herbert Thomas Henry Hofland
May Flora Cavanagh
💍 1907/4698

Bachelor
Spinster

Cutter
Tailoress

32 years
27 years

Caversham
South Dunedin

10 years
27 years

In the house of John Cavanagh, Oxford Street, South Dunedin

07/4086

27 May 1907

R. Mackie

No	286
Date of Notice	27 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Thomas Henry Hofland	Mary Flora Cavanagh
BDM Match (97%)	Herbert Thomas Henry Hofland	May Flora Cavanagh
	💍 1907/4698
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cutter	Tailoress
Age	32 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	10 years	27 years
Marriage Place	In the house of John Cavanagh, Oxford Street, South Dunedin
Folio	07/4086
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1907
Officiating Minister	R. Mackie

287

29 May 1907

Bertram Lawrence
Grace Isabel Boyer

Bertram Lawrence
Grace Isabel Boyer
💍 1907/4384

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor

28 years
27 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 days
4 days

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

07/3593

29 May 1907

H. Maxwell

No	287
Date of Notice	29 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bertram Lawrence	Grace Isabel Boyer
	💍 1907/4384
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor
Age	28 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	07/3593
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1907
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

288

29 May 1907

Andrew Fraser
Gertrude Violet Wigg

Andrew Fraser
Gertrude Violet Wigg
💍 1907/4622

Bachelor
Spinster

Motorman

30 years
19 years

Dunedin
South Dunedin

30 years
19 years

In the house of Simon Fraser, 3 New Street, Dunedin

07/4008

Andrew Wigg, father

29 May 1907

J. K. McIntyre

No	288
Date of Notice	29 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Fraser	Gertrude Violet Wigg
	💍 1907/4622
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motorman
Age	30 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	30 years	19 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Simon Fraser, 3 New Street, Dunedin
Folio	07/4008
Consent	Andrew Wigg, father
Date of Certificate	29 May 1907
Officiating Minister	J. K. McIntyre

289

29 May 1907

William Donald McLachlan
Mary Sophia Sorenson

William Donald McLachlan
Mary Sophia Sorenson
💍 1907/3168

Bachelor
Spinster

Brushmaker
Tailoress

28 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
5 years

In the house of Mr. W. D. McLachlan, St. Andrew Street, Dunedin

07/3610

29 May 1907

Wm. Laycock

No	289
Date of Notice	29 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Donald McLachlan	Mary Sophia Sorenson
	💍 1907/3168
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brushmaker	Tailoress
Age	28 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. W. D. McLachlan, St. Andrew Street, Dunedin
Folio	07/3610
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Wm. Laycock

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).