Intentions to Marry, 1908 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840438, 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 019

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 September 1908 Registrar William Winsbury White

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

311

6 July 1908

Sidney Osborne
Mary Ann Beepon

Sidney Osborne
Mary Ann Capon
💍 1908/6990

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Laborer
domestic duties

25
18

Winchmore
Winchmore

12 months
18 years

Office of the Registrar at Ashburton

08/5565

Arthur Beepon, father of minor

6 July 1908

W. W. White, Registrar

No	311
Date of Notice	6 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Osborne	Mary Ann Beepon
BDM Match (90%)	Sidney Osborne	Mary Ann Capon
	💍 1908/6990
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Laborer	domestic duties
Age	25	18
Dwelling Place	Winchmore	Winchmore
Length of Residence	12 months	18 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar at Ashburton
Folio	08/5565
Consent	Arthur Beepon, father of minor
Date of Certificate	6 July 1908
Officiating Minister	W. W. White, Registrar

312

13 July 1908

George Thompson
Elizabeth Husbaind

George Thompson
Elizabeth Husband
💍 1908/6991

Widower
divorced

Farmer
domestic duties

64
48

Winchmore
Ashburton

49 years
39 years

Office of the Registrar at Ashburton

08/5566

13 July 1908

W. W. White, Registrar

No	312
Date of Notice	13 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Thompson	Elizabeth Husbaind
BDM Match (97%)	George Thompson	Elizabeth Husband
	💍 1908/6991
Condition	Widower	divorced
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	64	48
Dwelling Place	Winchmore	Ashburton
Length of Residence	49 years	39 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar at Ashburton
Folio	08/5566
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 July 1908
Officiating Minister	W. W. White, Registrar

313

15 July 1908

John Rowan
Ellen Wilson

John Rowan
Ellen Wilson
💍 1908/6976

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
domestic duties

55
26

Inglewood
Wakanui

3 days
16 years

The dwelling of James Wilson, Wakanui

08/5574

15 July 1908

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	313
Date of Notice	15 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Rowan	Ellen Wilson
	💍 1908/6976
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	domestic duties
Age	55	26
Dwelling Place	Inglewood	Wakanui
Length of Residence	3 days	16 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling of James Wilson, Wakanui
Folio	08/5574
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

314

14 July 1908

Robert James Johnston
Lydia May Hewill

Robert James Johnston
Lydia May Hewitt
💍 1908/7041

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

25
56

Hinds
Sydenham

14 years
10 years

St. Saviours Church of Christ, England Church, Sydenham

08/5618

19 July 1908

Rev. J. J. Bocks, B.A.

No	314
Date of Notice	14 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert James Johnston	Lydia May Hewill
BDM Match (94%)	Robert James Johnston	Lydia May Hewitt
	💍 1908/7041
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	25	56
Dwelling Place	Hinds	Sydenham
Length of Residence	14 years	10 years
Marriage Place	St. Saviours Church of Christ, England Church, Sydenham
Folio	08/5618
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Bocks, B.A.

315

20 July 1908

William John Holland
Alice Maud Downie

William John Holland
Alice Maud Downie
💍 1908/6975

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Laborer
dress-maker

23
25

Chertsey
Chertsey

6 years
25 years

The dwelling of John Downie, Chertsey

08/5573

20 July 1908

Rev. A. Begg, M.A.

No	315
Date of Notice	20 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Holland	Alice Maud Downie
	💍 1908/6975
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Laborer	dress-maker
Age	23	25
Dwelling Place	Chertsey	Chertsey
Length of Residence	6 years	25 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling of John Downie, Chertsey
Folio	08/5573
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Begg, M.A.

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).