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 299

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 September 1907 Registrar Alex Montgomery

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

15 August 1907

Tom Elliot Naughton Reid
Ellen Louise Duncan

Tom Elliot Houghton Reid
Ellen Louise Duncan
💍 1907/3835

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper's Assistant
Household Duties

24
24

Timaru
Timaru

16 months
5 years

Dwellinghouse of W. W. Duncan, Theodocia St., Timaru

07/5712

15 August 1907

Rev. R. Jackson, Presbyterian Minister

No	79
Date of Notice	15 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Tom Elliot Naughton Reid	Ellen Louise Duncan
BDM Match (96%)	Tom Elliot Houghton Reid	Ellen Louise Duncan
	💍 1907/3835
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper's Assistant	Household Duties
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	16 months	5 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of W. W. Duncan, Theodocia St., Timaru
Folio	07/5712
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Jackson, Presbyterian Minister

16 August 1907

John Garr
Ada Elizabeth Wade

John Garr
Ada Elizabeth Wade
💍 1907/5989

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Household Duties

34
25

Timaru
Timaru

7 years
25 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

07/6038

16 August 1907

Rev. F. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	80
Date of Notice	16 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Garr	Ada Elizabeth Wade
	💍 1907/5989
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Household Duties
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	7 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	07/6038
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

20 August 1907

Holger Waldemar Smith
Maud Battcock

Holger Voldimer Smith
Maud Battcock
💍 1907/3830

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Tailoress

24
23

Timaru
Timaru

4 years
23 years

Dwellinghouse of Rev. John Olphert, Arthur St., Timaru

07/5708

20 August 1907

Rev. J. Olphert, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	81
Date of Notice	20 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Holger Waldemar Smith	Maud Battcock
BDM Match (91%)	Holger Voldimer Smith	Maud Battcock
	💍 1907/3830
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Tailoress
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Rev. John Olphert, Arthur St., Timaru
Folio	07/5708
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Olphert, Primitive Methodist Minister

20 August 1907

John Garnett Broadhead
Edith Saxon

John Garnett Broadhead
Edith Saxon
💍 1907/6007

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner
Household Duties

25
25

Timaru
Timaru

25 years
15 years

English Church, St. Mary's, Timaru

07/6064

20 August 1907

Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

No	82
Date of Notice	20 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Garnett Broadhead	Edith Saxon
	💍 1907/6007
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Household Duties
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	25 years	15 years
Marriage Place	English Church, St. Mary's, Timaru
Folio	07/6064
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

26 August 1907

Reuben Goulburn Fawkner
Ida Ethel Tuiche Wild

Reuben Goldbrem Fawkner
Ida Ethel Tuite Wild
💍 1907/6006

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk
Household Duties

28
23

Timaru
Timaru

3 months
4 days

St. Mary's English Church, Timaru

07/6063

26 August 1907

Rev. T. M. Curnow, Church of England Clergyman

No	83
Date of Notice	26 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reuben Goulburn Fawkner	Ida Ethel Tuiche Wild
BDM Match (84%)	Reuben Goldbrem Fawkner	Ida Ethel Tuite Wild
	💍 1907/6006
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk	Household Duties
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 months	4 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	07/6063
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. M. Curnow, Church of England Clergyman

27 August 1907

Hugh Corbett
Charlotte Emma Knowles

Hugh Corbett
Charlotte Emma Knowles
💍 1907/3836

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

60
31

Timaru
Timaru

2 years
31 years

Chalmers Church, Timaru

07/5713

27 August 1907

Rev. R. Jackson, Presbyterian Minister

No	84
Date of Notice	27 August 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Corbett	Charlotte Emma Knowles
	💍 1907/3836
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	60	31
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	2 years	31 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Church, Timaru
Folio	07/5713
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 August 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Jackson, Presbyterian Minister

2 September 1907

Thomas Henry Holland
Maude Beatrice Watkins

Thomas Henry Holland
Maude Beatrice Watkins
💍 1907/3838

Bachelor
Spinster

Bricklayer
Domestic Duties

25
20

Timaru
Pareora East

25 years
14 days

Wesleyan Church, Pareora East

07/5715

W. T. Watkins, Father

2 September 1907

Rev. C. H. Olds, Wesleyan Minister

No	85
Date of Notice	2 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Holland	Maude Beatrice Watkins
	💍 1907/3838
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bricklayer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Pareora East
Length of Residence	25 years	14 days
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Pareora East
Folio	07/5715
Consent	W. T. Watkins, Father
Date of Certificate	2 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Olds, Wesleyan Minister

5 September 1907

Arthur Herman Gabites
Emily Constance Ray

Arthur Norman Gabites
Emily Constance Ray
💍 1907/6008

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Household Duties

30 years
28 years

Timaru
Timaru

22 years
3 years

St. Mary's English Church, Timaru

07/6065

5 September 1907

Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

No	86
Date of Notice	5 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Herman Gabites	Emily Constance Ray
BDM Match (95%)	Arthur Norman Gabites	Emily Constance Ray
	💍 1907/6008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Household Duties
Age	30 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	22 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	07/6065
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

6 September 1907

William Charles Collins
Lily Ann Wallace

William Charles Collins
Lily Ann Wallace
💍 1907/3828

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Saleswoman

25
22

Christchurch
Timaru

12 months
22 years

Registrar's Office, Timaru

07/5706

6 September 1907

C. Montgomery, Registrar

No	87
Date of Notice	6 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Charles Collins	Lily Ann Wallace
	💍 1907/3828
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Saleswoman
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Timaru
Length of Residence	12 months	22 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	07/5706
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 September 1907
Officiating Minister	C. Montgomery, Registrar

27 September 1907

Duncan Ebenezer Bain Murchison
Ada Mary Mathias

Duncan Ebenezer Bain Murchison
Ada Mary Mathias
💍 1907/6010

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Lady

22
24

Lake Coleridge
Timaru

4 years
3 days

St. Mary's English Church, Hororata

07/6066

27 September 1907

Rev. W. Longie Gibson, Church of England Clergyman

No	88
Date of Notice	27 September 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan Ebenezer Bain Murchison	Ada Mary Mathias
	💍 1907/6010
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Lady
Age	22	24
Dwelling Place	Lake Coleridge	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 years	3 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's English Church, Hororata
Folio	07/6066
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 September 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Longie Gibson, Church of England Clergyman

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).