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 269

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 March 1908 Registrar Alex Montgomery

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

29 February 1908

Francis Joseph Rolleston
Mary Winifred Blair

Francis Joseph Rolleston
Mary Winifred Blair
💍 1908/1469

Bachelor
Spinster

Barrister
Household Duties

34
26

Timaru
Scarborough

8 years
18 months

St Mary's English Church, Timaru

08/1577

29 February 1908

Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

No	15
Date of Notice	29 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Joseph Rolleston	Mary Winifred Blair
	💍 1908/1469
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barrister	Household Duties
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Scarborough
Length of Residence	8 years	18 months
Marriage Place	St Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	08/1577
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

11 March 1908

Alfred Henry Humphreys
Grace Coates

Alfred Henry Humphreys
Grace Wates
💍 1908/1484

Bachelor
Spinster

Factory Underman
Domestic Servant

21
25

Timaru
Timaru

3 years
4 days

Bridegroom's dwelling house, Avenue Road, Timaru

08/1509

11 March 1908

Rev. T. A. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

No	16
Date of Notice	11 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Henry Humphreys	Grace Coates
BDM Match (92%)	Alfred Henry Humphreys	Grace Wates
	💍 1908/1484
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Factory Underman	Domestic Servant
Age	21	25
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 years	4 days
Marriage Place	Bridegroom's dwelling house, Avenue Road, Timaru
Folio	08/1509
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

11 March 1908

Percy Dixon
Daisy Elizabeth Woodyatt

Percy Dixon
Dasie Elizabeth Woodyatt
💍 1908/1483

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Saleswoman

23
24

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
18 months

Wesleyan Church, Timaru

08/1508

11 March 1908

Rev. C. H. Ulds, Wesleyan Minister

No	17
Date of Notice	11 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Dixon	Daisy Elizabeth Woodyatt
BDM Match (94%)	Percy Dixon	Dasie Elizabeth Woodyatt
	💍 1908/1483
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Saleswoman
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	18 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Timaru
Folio	08/1508
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Ulds, Wesleyan Minister

23 March 1908

Charles Frederick Denny
Harriet Criscott

Charles Frederic Denny
Harriet Asscott
💍 1908/1485

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic Duties

36
23

Timaru
Timaru

6 years
23 years

Dwelling house of Thos. Criscott, Perth Street, Timaru

08/1570

23 March 1908

Rev. T. A. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

No	18
Date of Notice	23 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Frederick Denny	Harriet Criscott
BDM Match (89%)	Charles Frederic Denny	Harriet Asscott
	💍 1908/1485
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	36	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Dwelling house of Thos. Criscott, Perth Street, Timaru
Folio	08/1570
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 March 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. A. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

30 March 1908

Henry McIntosh
Susannah Hardew

Henry McIntosh
Susannah Harden
💍 1908/5176

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith Labourer
Household Duties

84
19

Timaru
Timaru

18 years
13 months

Registrar's Office, Timaru

08/3692

John McIntosh, Father; H. Harper, Guardian

30 March 1908

Alex Montgomery, Registrar

No	19
Date of Notice	30 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry McIntosh	Susannah Hardew
BDM Match (97%)	Henry McIntosh	Susannah Harden
	💍 1908/5176
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith Labourer	Household Duties
Age	84	19
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	18 years	13 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	08/3692
Consent	John McIntosh, Father; H. Harper, Guardian
Date of Certificate	30 March 1908
Officiating Minister	Alex Montgomery, Registrar

31 March 1908

Ralph Daynes
Margaret Elizabeth Harrison

Ralph Dynes
Margaret Elizabeth Harrison
💍 1908/5175

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Household Duties

55
34

Kingsdown
Timaru

36 years
6 months

Trinity Church, Timaru

08/3691

31 March 1908

Rev. J. Thos. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	20
Date of Notice	31 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ralph Daynes	Margaret Elizabeth Harrison
BDM Match (96%)	Ralph Dynes	Margaret Elizabeth Harrison
	💍 1908/5175
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household Duties
Age	55	34
Dwelling Place	Kingsdown	Timaru
Length of Residence	36 years	6 months
Marriage Place	Trinity Church, Timaru
Folio	08/3691
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 March 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Thos. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

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).