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 423

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 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

126

4 March 1907

John Charles White
Agnes Lockie Lillias George Wilkie

John Charles White
Agnes Lockie Lillias George Wilkie
💍 1907/1450

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller

24 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

18 years
22 years

In the Congregational Church, Moray Place, Dunedin

07/1560

4 March 1907

Wm. Saunders

No	126
Date of Notice	4 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Charles White	Agnes Lockie Lillias George Wilkie
	💍 1907/1450
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	18 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In the Congregational Church, Moray Place, Dunedin
Folio	07/1560
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Wm. Saunders

127

5 March 1907

William Edward Moyle
Frances Watts

William Edward Moyle
Frances Watts
💍 1907/1517

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper

26 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
6 months

In Knox Church, Dunedin

07/1629

5 March 1907

Wm. Hewitson

No	127
Date of Notice	5 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Edward Moyle	Frances Watts
	💍 1907/1517
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper
Age	26 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	6 months
Marriage Place	In Knox Church, Dunedin
Folio	07/1629
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Wm. Hewitson

128

5 March 1907

John Francis Jones
Myrtle Groves

John Francis Jones
Myrtle Groves
💍 1907/1471

Bachelor
Spinster

Bottler

23 years
29 years

Dunedin
North East Valley

23 years
29 years

In the house of Mr. J. M. Groves, George Street, North East Valley

07/1581

5 March 1907

A. Allen

No	128
Date of Notice	5 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Francis Jones	Myrtle Groves
	💍 1907/1471
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bottler
Age	23 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	North East Valley
Length of Residence	23 years	29 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. J. M. Groves, George Street, North East Valley
Folio	07/1581
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1907
Officiating Minister	A. Allen

129

5 March 1907

David Albert Johnston Watson
Elizabeth Bushell

David Albert Johnston Watson
Elizabeth Bushell
💍 1907/1518

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman

21 years
19 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
13 years

In the house of Mr. E. Fagan, 93 Hanover Street, Dunedin

07/1630

Thomas Bushell

5 March 1907

W. Hewitson

No	129
Date of Notice	5 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Albert Johnston Watson	Elizabeth Bushell
	💍 1907/1518
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman
Age	21 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	13 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. E. Fagan, 93 Hanover Street, Dunedin
Folio	07/1630
Consent	Thomas Bushell
Date of Certificate	5 March 1907
Officiating Minister	W. Hewitson

130

5 March 1907

William John Newman
Frances Marian Churchill Dunbar Finn

William John Newman
Frances Marian Churchill Dunbar Finn
💍 1907/1392

Widower
Widow

Plasterer

79 years
69 years

Roslyn
Dunedin

13 years
10 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

07/1499

5 March 1907

Jas. Taylor

No	130
Date of Notice	5 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Newman	Frances Marian Churchill Dunbar Finn
	💍 1907/1392
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Plasterer
Age	79 years	69 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Dunedin
Length of Residence	13 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	07/1499
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 March 1907
Officiating Minister	Jas. Taylor

131

6 March 1907

John Muir
Rebecca Australia Roberts

John Muir
Rebecca Australia Roberts
💍 1907/1419

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

33 years
33 years

Caversham
Caversham

3 days
33 years

In the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Cargill Road, South Dunedin

07/1526

6 March 1907

A. M. Scotter

No	131
Date of Notice	6 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Muir	Rebecca Australia Roberts
	💍 1907/1419
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	33 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	3 days	33 years
Marriage Place	In the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Cargill Road, South Dunedin
Folio	07/1526
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1907
Officiating Minister	A. M. Scotter

132

6 March 1907

Herbert Whitelaw
Nellie Mills

Herbert Whitelaw
Nellie Mills
💍 1907/1475

Bachelor
Spinster

Pipe Maker

26 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 years
3 years

In the house of Mrs. Ina Guy, 276 Leith Street, Dunedin

07/1584

6 March 1907

W. S. Fernie

No	132
Date of Notice	6 March 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Whitelaw	Nellie Mills
	💍 1907/1475
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pipe Maker
Age	26 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Ina Guy, 276 Leith Street, Dunedin
Folio	07/1584
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1907
Officiating Minister	W. S. Fernie

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).