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 411

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

29 January 1907

Walter Frederick Willmott Meek
Zeby Emiline Dale

Walter Frederick Willmott Meek
Zebz Emiline Dale
💍 1907/1429

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

24
32

Anderson's Bay
Anderson's Bay

14 years
4 years

St. Matthew's Church, Dunedin

07/1535

29 January 1907

W. Curzon-Siggers

No	50
Date of Notice	29 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Frederick Willmott Meek	Zeby Emiline Dale
BDM Match (97%)	Walter Frederick Willmott Meek	Zebz Emiline Dale
	💍 1907/1429
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	24	32
Dwelling Place	Anderson's Bay	Anderson's Bay
Length of Residence	14 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church, Dunedin
Folio	07/1535
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 January 1907
Officiating Minister	W. Curzon-Siggers

30 January 1907

Lewis Edwards
June Blakely Morris

Lewis Edwards
Jane Blakely Morris
💍 1907/1873

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
23

Highcliff
North East Harbour, Sandymount

3 days
23 years

In the Presbyterian Church, Sandymount

07/1993

30 January 1907

J. Erwin

No	51
Date of Notice	30 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lewis Edwards	June Blakely Morris
BDM Match (97%)	Lewis Edwards	Jane Blakely Morris
	💍 1907/1873
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Highcliff	North East Harbour, Sandymount
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, Sandymount
Folio	07/1993
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1907
Officiating Minister	J. Erwin

30 January 1907

Alfred Edward Barsdell
Elizabeth Charlotte Oliver

Alfred Edward Barsdell
Elizabeth Charlotte Oliver
💍 1907/1402

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Dressmaker

25
23

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

07/1491

30 January 1907

H. Maxwell

No	52
Date of Notice	30 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Edward Barsdell	Elizabeth Charlotte Oliver
	💍 1907/1402
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Dressmaker
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	07/1491
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1907
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

30 January 1907

John Arthur Cameron
Elizabeth Jane Monson

John Arthur Cameron
Elizabeth Janet Monson
💍 1907/1405

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
25

West Taieri
Dunedin

29 years
22 years

In the house of Mrs. Janet Thomson, 61 Castle Street, West Taieri, Dunedin

07/1511

30 January 1907

Geo. Heighway

No	53
Date of Notice	30 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Arthur Cameron	Elizabeth Jane Monson
BDM Match (98%)	John Arthur Cameron	Elizabeth Janet Monson
	💍 1907/1405
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	West Taieri	Dunedin
Length of Residence	29 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs. Janet Thomson, 61 Castle Street, West Taieri, Dunedin
Folio	07/1511
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Geo. Heighway

31 January 1907

Hugh Henry Lyall
Lilian Frances Jones

Hugh Henry Lyall
Lilian Frances Jones
💍 1907/4860

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
School Teacher

31
29

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
29 years

In St. Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin

07/4300

31 January 1907

C. G. Robinson

No	54
Date of Notice	31 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Henry Lyall	Lilian Frances Jones
	💍 1907/4860
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	School Teacher
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	In St. Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	07/4300
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1907
Officiating Minister	C. G. Robinson

31 January 1907

James Thompson
Jessie McKenzie

James Thompson
Jessie McKenzie
💍 1907/1535

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

26
24

Dunedin
Dunedin

26 years
3 years

In the house of Mr. J. Thompson, 73 Clyde Street, Dunedin

07/1623

31 January 1907

Wm. Hewitson

No	55
Date of Notice	31 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Thompson	Jessie McKenzie
	💍 1907/1535
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	26 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. J. Thompson, 73 Clyde Street, Dunedin
Folio	07/1623
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Wm. Hewitson

31 January 1907

William Wallace Andrew
Frances Evaline McIldoy

William Wallace Andrew
Frances Evaline McIlroy
💍 1907/1503

Bachelor
Spinster

Linotype Operator

25
24

Dunedin
Burnside

3 years
18 months

In the First Church Manse, Dunedin

07/1613

31 January 1907

T. Nisbet

No	56
Date of Notice	31 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wallace Andrew	Frances Evaline McIldoy
BDM Match (98%)	William Wallace Andrew	Frances Evaline McIlroy
	💍 1907/1503
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Linotype Operator
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Burnside
Length of Residence	3 years	18 months
Marriage Place	In the First Church Manse, Dunedin
Folio	07/1613
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1907
Officiating Minister	T. Nisbet

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).