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 409

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

22 January 1907

Walter William Shepherd
Violet Jane Webster

Walter William Shepherd
Violet Jane Webster
💍 1907/1391

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Tailoress

22 years
22 years

Anderson's Bay
Dunedin

3 years
22 years

In the Office of the Registrar of marriages Dunedin

07/1490

22 January 1907

H. Maxwell

No	35
Date of Notice	22 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter William Shepherd	Violet Jane Webster
	💍 1907/1391
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Tailoress
Age	22 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Anderson's Bay	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	22 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of marriages Dunedin
Folio	07/1490
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 January 1907
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

22 January 1907

Munro Gordon Mackney
Ethel May Lily Whyte

Munro Gordon Mackuey
Ethel May Lily Whyte
💍 1907/1447

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

28 years
19 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

20 years
13 years

In the Presbyterian Church Mornington

07/1557

Mary Jane Whyte Mother

22 January 1907

Wm. Scorgie

No	36
Date of Notice	22 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Munro Gordon Mackney	Ethel May Lily Whyte
BDM Match (98%)	Munro Gordon Mackuey	Ethel May Lily Whyte
	💍 1907/1447
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	28 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	20 years	13 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church Mornington
Folio	07/1557
Consent	Mary Jane Whyte Mother
Date of Certificate	22 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Wm. Scorgie

23 January 1907

Alexander Duncan McLauchlan
Helen Douglas Macdonald

Alexander Duncan McLauchlan
Helen Douglas Macdonald
💍 1907/1438

Bachelor
Spinster

Produce Merchant

28 years
30 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
1 year

In the house of Mrs Margaret Livingston, 63 Duncan Street Dunedin

07/1521

23 January 1907

R. Waddell

No	37
Date of Notice	23 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Duncan McLauchlan	Helen Douglas Macdonald
	💍 1907/1438
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Produce Merchant
Age	28 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Margaret Livingston, 63 Duncan Street Dunedin
Folio	07/1521
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1907
Officiating Minister	R. Waddell

23 January 1907

James Duncan King
Mary Ada Turner

James Duncan King
Mary Ada Turner
💍 1907/1462

Bachelor
Spinster

Brassmoulder

28 years
36 years

Dunedin
North East Valley

28 years
23 years

In the house of Mrs Margaret Turner No 1 Street, Opoho North East Valley

07/1551

23 January 1907

J. R. McIntyre

No	38
Date of Notice	23 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Duncan King	Mary Ada Turner
	💍 1907/1462
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brassmoulder
Age	28 years	36 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	North East Valley
Length of Residence	28 years	23 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Margaret Turner No 1 Street, Opoho North East Valley
Folio	07/1551
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1907
Officiating Minister	J. R. McIntyre

23 January 1907

Edward Douglas Holland
Edith Ella Ensor

Edward Douglas Holland
Edith Ella Ensor
💍 1907/1498

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
Tailoress

23 years
20 years

Caversham
Abbotsford

18 months
20 years

In the house of Mrs Maria Holland Glen Road Caversham

07/1609

Joseph Ensor Father

23 January 1907

T. Trestrail

No	39
Date of Notice	23 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Douglas Holland	Edith Ella Ensor
	💍 1907/1498
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	Tailoress
Age	23 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Abbotsford
Length of Residence	18 months	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Maria Holland Glen Road Caversham
Folio	07/1609
Consent	Joseph Ensor Father
Date of Certificate	23 January 1907
Officiating Minister	T. Trestrail

24 January 1907

Ewen McDonald
Annie Weir Ferguson

Ewen McDonald
Annie Weir Ferguson
💍 1907/2013

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

26 years
26 years

Napier
Dunedin

4 years
3 days

In the Waratah Tea Rooms, 84 Moray Place Dunedin

07/2136

24 January 1907

Robt. Fairmaid

No	40
Date of Notice	24 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ewen McDonald	Annie Weir Ferguson
	💍 1907/2013
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	26 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Napier	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	3 days
Marriage Place	In the Waratah Tea Rooms, 84 Moray Place Dunedin
Folio	07/2136
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Robt. Fairmaid

24 January 1907

Alexander Fowley Roberts
Hannah Ruby Farquhar

Alexander Fowler Roberts
Hannah Ruby Farquhar
💍 1907/1428

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

24 years
27 years

Roslyn
Dunedin

7 years
27 years

In St Matthews Church Dunedin

07/1534

24 January 1907

W. Curzon Siggers

No	41
Date of Notice	24 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Fowley Roberts	Hannah Ruby Farquhar
BDM Match (98%)	Alexander Fowler Roberts	Hannah Ruby Farquhar
	💍 1907/1428
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	24 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Dunedin
Length of Residence	7 years	27 years
Marriage Place	In St Matthews Church Dunedin
Folio	07/1534
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1907
Officiating Minister	W. Curzon Siggers

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).