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 021

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

351

16 August 1908

David Warnock
Edith Agnes Burness

David Warnock
Edith Agnes Burness
💍 1908/6993

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
domestic duties

23
19

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 weeks

Office of the Registrar, Ashburton

08/5568

William Burness, father of minor

16 August 1908

W. White, Registrar

No	351
Date of Notice	16 August 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Warnock	Edith Agnes Burness
	💍 1908/6993
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	domestic duties
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Ashburton
Folio	08/5568
Consent	William Burness, father of minor
Date of Certificate	16 August 1908
Officiating Minister	W. White, Registrar

352

19 August 1908

John Forrester
Alice Mary Griffiths McLean

John Forrester
Alice Mary Griffiths McLean
💍 1908/6980

Widower
Widow

Crown Lands Ranger
domestic duties

60
38

Ashburton
10 Burnett Street, Ashburton

3½ years
10 years

Residence of Mrs. McLean, 10 Burnett Street, Ashburton

08/5578

19 August 1908

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	352
Date of Notice	19 August 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Forrester	Alice Mary Griffiths McLean
	💍 1908/6980
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Crown Lands Ranger	domestic duties
Age	60	38
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	10 Burnett Street, Ashburton
Length of Residence	3½ years	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. McLean, 10 Burnett Street, Ashburton
Folio	08/5578
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 August 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

353

24 August 1908

Diedrick Carl Gluestein
Isabella Agnes Cochrane

Diedrick Carl Gluestein
Isabella Agnes Cochrane
💍 1908/6981

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

31
26

Rakaia
Elgin

3 days
20 years

Presbyterian Church, Ashburton

08/5579

24 August 1908

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	353
Date of Notice	24 August 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Diedrick Carl Gluestein	Isabella Agnes Cochrane
	💍 1908/6981
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	31	26
Dwelling Place	Rakaia	Elgin
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Ashburton
Folio	08/5579
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 August 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

354

24 August 1908

Andrew Sim
Esther Mabel Donaldson

Andrew Sim
Esther Mabel Donaldson
💍 1908/6982

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

39
22

Carew
Tinwald

15 years
22 years

Presbyterian Church, Ashburton

08/5580

24 August 1908

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	354
Date of Notice	24 August 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Sim	Esther Mabel Donaldson
	💍 1908/6982
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	39	22
Dwelling Place	Carew	Tinwald
Length of Residence	15 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Ashburton
Folio	08/5580
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 August 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

355

11 September 1908

Alfred Edward Thomas
Sarah Ann Bates

Alfred Edward Thomas
Sarah Ann Cates
💍 1908/6974

Bachelor
Spinster

Produce Merchant
dressmaker

31
30

Ashburton
30 Square, Ashburton

12 months
30 years

Wesleyan Church, Baring Square, Ashburton

08/5572

11 September 1908

Rev. H. E. Bellhouse

No	355
Date of Notice	11 September 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Edward Thomas	Sarah Ann Bates
BDM Match (97%)	Alfred Edward Thomas	Sarah Ann Cates
	💍 1908/6974
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Produce Merchant	dressmaker
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	30 Square, Ashburton
Length of Residence	12 months	30 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Baring Square, Ashburton
Folio	08/5572
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 September 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Bellhouse

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).