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 236

District of Rakaia Quarter ending 30 September 1908 Registrar Albert Joseph Muller

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

5 June 1908

Harry Sharland Seymour Hall
Residence Lyttelton
Louise Martha Grainger

Henry Sharland Seymour Hall
Louise Martha Grainger
💍 1908/5151

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

24
25

Governor's Bay
Methven

22 years
10 years

Church of England, Methven

08/1366

9 June 1908

Rev. H. H. York

No	5
Date of Notice	5 June 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Sharland Seymour Hall Residence Lyttelton	Louise Martha Grainger
BDM Match (96%)	Henry Sharland Seymour Hall	Louise Martha Grainger
	💍 1908/5151
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Governor's Bay	Methven
Length of Residence	22 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Methven
Folio	08/1366
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 June 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. H. York

9 June 1908

George Leslie Nell
Mary Louisa Heer

George Leslie Nell
Mary Louisa Heer
💍 1908/5152

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Manager
Domestic Duties

23
20

Methven
Methven

3 months
20 years

Presbyterian Church, Methven

08/3668

Edward Heer, father

9 June 1908

Rev. J. B. Westbrooke

No	6
Date of Notice	9 June 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Leslie Nell	Mary Louisa Heer
	💍 1908/5152
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Manager	Domestic Duties
Age	23	20
Dwelling Place	Methven	Methven
Length of Residence	3 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Methven
Folio	08/3668
Consent	Edward Heer, father
Date of Certificate	9 June 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Westbrooke

30 June 1908

Edward Rice Tebbatt
Alice Brooker

Edward Rice Tebbott
Alice Brooker
💍 1908/7191

Widower
Spinster

Carpenter
Laundress

33
36

Methven
Methven

18 months
3 months

Church of England, Methven

08/5775

30 June 1908

Rev. H. A. York

No	7
Date of Notice	30 June 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Rice Tebbatt	Alice Brooker
BDM Match (97%)	Edward Rice Tebbott	Alice Brooker
	💍 1908/7191
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Laundress
Age	33	36
Dwelling Place	Methven	Methven
Length of Residence	18 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Methven
Folio	08/5775
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 June 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. A. York

2 July 1908

Thomas Morris Gundersen
Flora Ellen Ledgerwood

Thomas Morris Ganderson
Flora Ellen Ledgerwood
💍 1908/7192

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

21
19

Highbank
Highbank

1 year
12 years

Residence of Mrs. Ledgerwood, Methven

08/5776

Mrs. Ledgerwood, mother

2 July 1908

Rev. J. B. Westbrooke

No	8
Date of Notice	2 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Morris Gundersen	Flora Ellen Ledgerwood
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Morris Ganderson	Flora Ellen Ledgerwood
	💍 1908/7192
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Highbank	Highbank
Length of Residence	1 year	12 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Ledgerwood, Methven
Folio	08/5776
Consent	Mrs. Ledgerwood, mother
Date of Certificate	2 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Westbrooke

9 July 1908

John Francome Newman
Margaret Briden

John Francome Newman
Margaret Briden
💍 1908/7169

Bachelor
Spinster

Stablekeeper
Dressmaker

25
22

Methven
Methven

2 years
22 years

St. John's Presbyterian Church, Methven

08/5777

9 July 1908

Rev. J. B. Westbrooke

No	9
Date of Notice	9 July 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Francome Newman	Margaret Briden
	💍 1908/7169
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Stablekeeper	Dressmaker
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Methven	Methven
Length of Residence	2 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Presbyterian Church, Methven
Folio	08/5777
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 July 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. B. Westbrooke

22 August 1908

John James Frossen
Louisa Santy

John James Crossen
Louisa Santy
💍 1908/3493

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

28
32

Temuka
Rakaia

4 months
4 months

Church of England, Temuka

08/8321

22 August 1908

Rev. H. H. Mathias

No	10
Date of Notice	22 August 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Frossen	Louisa Santy
BDM Match (97%)	John James Crossen	Louisa Santy
	💍 1908/3493
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	28	32
Dwelling Place	Temuka	Rakaia
Length of Residence	4 months	4 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Temuka
Folio	08/8321
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. H. Mathias

3 September 1908

William Thomas Harvey
Annie Stewart

William Thomas Harvey
Annie Stewart
💍 1908/7170

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30
22

Pendarves
Dorie

6 years
3 years

Private Residence of P. F. Dolan, Dorie

08/5778

3 September 1908

Rev. A. Begg

No	11
Date of Notice	3 September 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Harvey	Annie Stewart
	💍 1908/7170
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	22
Dwelling Place	Pendarves	Dorie
Length of Residence	6 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of P. F. Dolan, Dorie
Folio	08/5778
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 September 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Begg

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).