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 447

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

269

9 May 1907

Albert Leighton
Mary Elizabeth Green

Albert Leighton
Mary Elizabeth Green
💍 1907/3167

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

25 years
7 years

In the Primitive Methodist Church, Dundas Street, Dunedin

07/3609

9 May 1907

Wm. Laycock

No	269
Date of Notice	9 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Leighton	Mary Elizabeth Green
	💍 1907/3167
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	25 years	7 years
Marriage Place	In the Primitive Methodist Church, Dundas Street, Dunedin
Folio	07/3609
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Wm. Laycock

270

10 May 1907

Duncan Bell Brown
Roanna Lilian Duncan

Duncan Bell Brown
Roanna Lilian Duncan
💍 1907/4624

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

25 years
26 years

North East Valley
North East Valley

23 years
26 years

In the Presbyterian Church, North East Valley

07/4010

10 May 1907

H. B. Gray

No	270
Date of Notice	10 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan Bell Brown	Roanna Lilian Duncan
	💍 1907/4624
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	25 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	North East Valley
Length of Residence	23 years	26 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, North East Valley
Folio	07/4010
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 May 1907
Officiating Minister	H. B. Gray

271

11 May 1907

George Kiddie Hunter
Annie Fraser Black

George Kiddie Hunter
Annie Fraser Black
💍 1907/4382

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

29 years
25 years

Caversham
Dunedin

20 years
6 months

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

07/3591

11 May 1907

H. Maxwell

No	271
Date of Notice	11 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Kiddie Hunter	Annie Fraser Black
	💍 1907/4382
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	29 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Dunedin
Length of Residence	20 years	6 months
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	07/3591
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 May 1907
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

272

13 May 1907

Edward Rawlins Birch
Florence Virginia Palmer

Edward Rawlins Birch
Florence Virginia Palmer
💍 1907/6051

Divorced
Spinster

Ironmoulder

27 years
25 years

Caversham
Caversham

27 years
20 years

In the House of Mr. Philip Palmer, Edward Street, Caversham

07/3648

13 May 1907

A. Hodge

No	272
Date of Notice	13 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Rawlins Birch	Florence Virginia Palmer
	💍 1907/6051
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Ironmoulder
Age	27 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	27 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the House of Mr. Philip Palmer, Edward Street, Caversham
Folio	07/3648
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 May 1907
Officiating Minister	A. Hodge

273

13 May 1907

Joseph Williamson
Fanny Strang

Joseph Williamson
Fanny Strang
💍 1907/3163

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill hand
Tailoress

33 years
31 years

Roslyn
Caversham

33 years
31 years

In the Knox Church Vestry, Dunedin

07/3628

13 May 1907

Wm. Hewitson

No	273
Date of Notice	13 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Williamson	Fanny Strang
	💍 1907/3163
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill hand	Tailoress
Age	33 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Caversham
Length of Residence	33 years	31 years
Marriage Place	In the Knox Church Vestry, Dunedin
Folio	07/3628
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 May 1907
Officiating Minister	Wm. Hewitson

274

13 May 1907

Patrick William Fraser
Dempster Winter Johnston

Patrick William Fraser
Dempster Winter Johnston
💍 1907/3346

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

25 years
31 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
9 years

In St Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin

07/3969

13 May 1907

J. J. O'Reilly

No	274
Date of Notice	13 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick William Fraser	Dempster Winter Johnston
	💍 1907/3346
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	25 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	9 years
Marriage Place	In St Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	07/3969
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 May 1907
Officiating Minister	J. J. O'Reilly

275

14 May 1907

John Sheridan
Robina Lees

John Sheridan
Robina Lees
💍 1907/4872

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

26 years
32 years

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

24 years
15 years

In St Patrick's Basilica, South Dunedin

07/4288

14 May 1907

M. Howard

No	275
Date of Notice	14 May 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Sheridan	Robina Lees
	💍 1907/4872
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	26 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	24 years	15 years
Marriage Place	In St Patrick's Basilica, South Dunedin
Folio	07/4288
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1907
Officiating Minister	M. Howard

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).