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 035

District of CHRISTCHURCH Quarter ending 31 March 1907 Registrar A.C. M'Creaul

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

9 January 1907

Andrew Monteith
Catherine Brosnahan

Andrew Monteith
Catherine Brosnahan
💍 1907/1030

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman

25
25

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 year
25 years

Registrar's Office Christchurch

07/1127

9 January 1907

L.B. Williams Registrar

No	27
Date of Notice	9 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Monteith	Catherine Brosnahan
	💍 1907/1030
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 year	25 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	07/1127
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1907
Officiating Minister	L.B. Williams Registrar

9 January 1907

Rees James Watson
Susannah Carey Griffiths

Rees James Watson Griffiths
Susannah Carey
💍 1907/1206

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier

39
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 weeks

Presbytery Barbados Street Christchurch

07/1309

9 January 1907

Rev. P.H. Galerne Romanist

No	28
Date of Notice	9 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Rees James Watson	Susannah Carey Griffiths
BDM Match (61%)	Rees James Watson Griffiths	Susannah Carey
	💍 1907/1206
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier
Age	39	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Presbytery Barbados Street Christchurch
Folio	07/1309
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. P.H. Galerne Romanist

10 January 1907

Vincent Joseph Leathem
Ellen Durrington

Vincent Joseph Leathem
Ellen Turkington
💍 1907/1208

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Dressmaker

25
27

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 months
27 years

Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch

07/1311

10 January 1907

Rev. W.J. Peoples Romanist

No	29
Date of Notice	10 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vincent Joseph Leathem	Ellen Durrington
BDM Match (94%)	Vincent Joseph Leathem	Ellen Turkington
	💍 1907/1208
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Dressmaker
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 months	27 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral Christchurch
Folio	07/1311
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. W.J. Peoples Romanist

10 January 1907

Alfred Rice
Beatrice Davenport

Alfred Rix
Beatrice Davenport
💍 1907/1227

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller

30
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

6 years
28 years

St. Michael's Christchurch

07/1331

10 January 1907

Archdeacon Averill Anglican

No	30
Date of Notice	10 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Rice	Beatrice Davenport
BDM Match (91%)	Alfred Rix	Beatrice Davenport
	💍 1907/1227
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	6 years	28 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Christchurch
Folio	07/1331
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon Averill Anglican

10 January 1907

Charles Frederick Cotterill
Violet Frances Offwood

Charles Frederick Cotterill
Violet Frances Offwood
💍 1907/1228

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver

22
19

Christchurch
Christchurch

12 years
19 years

St. Michael's Christchurch

07/1332

Father Samuel Offwood

10 January 1907

Archdeacon Averill Anglican

No	31
Date of Notice	10 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Frederick Cotterill	Violet Frances Offwood
	💍 1907/1228
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Christchurch
Folio	07/1332
Consent	Father Samuel Offwood
Date of Certificate	10 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon Averill Anglican

11 January 1907

James Thomas Pettengell
Agnes Williams

James Thomas Pettengell
Agnes Williams
💍 1907/1038

Bachelor
Widow (1902)

Baker

43
36

Christchurch
Christchurch

2 months
2 months

Registrar's Office Christchurch

07/1134

11 January 1907

L.B. Williams Registrar

No	32
Date of Notice	11 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Thomas Pettengell	Agnes Williams
	💍 1907/1038
Condition	Bachelor	Widow (1902)
Profession	Baker
Age	43	36
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	2 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	07/1134
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1907
Officiating Minister	L.B. Williams Registrar

12 January 1907

Alexander James Emslie
Ethel Pyne Whitehead

Alexander James Emslie
Ethel Pyne Whitehead
💍 1907/1231

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner

41
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
1 day

St. Michael's Christchurch

07/1334

12 January 1907

Archdeacon Averill Anglican

No	33
Date of Notice	12 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander James Emslie	Ethel Pyne Whitehead
	💍 1907/1231
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner
Age	41	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	1 day
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Christchurch
Folio	07/1334
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon Averill Anglican

12 January 1907

George Power
Mabel Ellen Robinson

George Power
Mabel Ellen Robinson
💍 1907/1032

Bachelor
Divorced (1907)

Farmer
Dressmaker

34
31

Christchurch
Sydenham

3 months
4 months

Registrar's Office Christchurch

07/1129

12 January 1907

L.B. Williams Registrar

No	34
Date of Notice	12 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Power	Mabel Ellen Robinson
	💍 1907/1032
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced (1907)
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	34	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Sydenham
Length of Residence	3 months	4 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	07/1129
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1907
Officiating Minister	L.B. Williams Registrar

12 January 1907

Hadeler Ernst Ziesler
Sabina Margaret Mullin

Hader Ernst Ziesler
Sabina Margaret Mullin
💍 1907/1207

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

18 months
23 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbados Street Christchurch

07/1310

12 January 1907

Rev. D.W. Price Romanist

No	35
Date of Notice	12 January 1907
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hadeler Ernst Ziesler	Sabina Margaret Mullin
BDM Match (95%)	Hader Ernst Ziesler	Sabina Margaret Mullin
	💍 1907/1207
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 months	23 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery Barbados Street Christchurch
Folio	07/1310
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1907
Officiating Minister	Rev. D.W. Price Romanist

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).