Intentions to Marry, 1908 Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840437, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1908 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1908a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1908b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1908c).

Page 061

District of Featherston Quarter ending 30 June 1908 Registrar J Young

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

18 April 1908

John Charles Edward Chapman
Clara Elizabeth Cottrill

John Charles Edward Chapman
Clara Elizabeth Cottrill
💍 1908/4244

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

29
20

Tawaka, Featherston
Tawaka, Featherston

20 months
2 years

Residence of Mrs A. Cottrill, Tawaka Settlement, Featherston

08/2657

James Cottrill, Father

18 April 1908

Rev. T. J. Smith

No	9
Date of Notice	18 April 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Charles Edward Chapman	Clara Elizabeth Cottrill
	💍 1908/4244
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Tawaka, Featherston	Tawaka, Featherston
Length of Residence	20 months	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs A. Cottrill, Tawaka Settlement, Featherston
Folio	08/2657
Consent	James Cottrill, Father
Date of Certificate	18 April 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Smith

21 April 1908

William Francis Chambers
Kathleen Caroline O'Donovan

William Francis Chambers
Kathleen Caroline O'Donovan
💍 1908/4242

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial traveller
Domestic duties

32
32

Featherston
Featherston

4 days
5 weeks

Residence of S. O. R. O'Donovan, private residence at Featherston

08/2649

21 April 1908

Rev. W. J. Beecroft

No	10
Date of Notice	21 April 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Francis Chambers	Kathleen Caroline O'Donovan
	💍 1908/4242
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial traveller	Domestic duties
Age	32	32
Dwelling Place	Featherston	Featherston
Length of Residence	4 days	5 weeks
Marriage Place	Residence of S. O. R. O'Donovan, private residence at Featherston
Folio	08/2649
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Beecroft

21 April 1908

Hugh Akers
Caroline Matthews

Hugh Akers
Caroline Matthews
💍 1908/4245

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

30
35

Featherston
Waiorongomai, Featherston

4 days
35 years at Waiohine, Featherston

Mr Alf. Matthews, private residence at Waiorangomai, Featherston

08/2652

21 April 1908

Rev. T. J. Smith

No	11
Date of Notice	21 April 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Akers	Caroline Matthews
	💍 1908/4245
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	30	35
Dwelling Place	Featherston	Waiorongomai, Featherston
Length of Residence	4 days	35 years at Waiohine, Featherston
Marriage Place	Mr Alf. Matthews, private residence at Waiorangomai, Featherston
Folio	08/2652
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. J. Smith

2 June 1908

John Peter Petersen
Ellen Sutherland

John Peter Petersen
Ellen Sutherland
💍 1908/4243

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

25
22

Eketahuna
Featherston

2 years
2 months

Presbyterian Church Featherston

08/2650

2 June 1908

Rev. Jas. McCaw

No	12
Date of Notice	2 June 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Peter Petersen	Ellen Sutherland
	💍 1908/4243
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Eketahuna	Featherston
Length of Residence	2 years	2 months
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Featherston
Folio	08/2650
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jas. McCaw

16 June 1908

Harry Philip Brasell
Alice Hopwood

Harry Philip Brasell
Alice Hopwood
💍 1908/4246

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic duties

27
29

Masterton
South Featherston

3 years
2 weeks

Wesleyan Church South Featherston

08/2653

16 June 1908

Rev. J. N. Butler

No	13
Date of Notice	16 June 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Philip Brasell	Alice Hopwood
	💍 1908/4246
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic duties
Age	27	29
Dwelling Place	Masterton	South Featherston
Length of Residence	3 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church South Featherston
Folio	08/2653
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. N. Butler

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).