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 281

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 December 1908 Registrar Alexander 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

5 October 1908

William John Lewis
Marjorie Lindsay Cooper

William John Lewis
Majorie Lindsay Couper
💍 1908/3038

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

39 years
22 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
1 year

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

08/7821

5 October 1908

Rev. Dr. Black, Presbyterian Minister

No	78
Date of Notice	5 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Lewis	Marjorie Lindsay Cooper
BDM Match (96%)	William John Lewis	Majorie Lindsay Couper
	💍 1908/3038
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	39 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	1 year
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	08/7821
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Dr. Black, Presbyterian Minister

9 October 1908

Thomas Adkins
Catherine Annie Berry

Thomas Adkins
Catherine Annie Berry
💍 1908/3034

Bachelor
Spinster

Signalman
Railways Dressmaker

33 years
28 years

Timaru
Timaru

9 years
2 years

Wesleyan Church, Timaru

08/7817

9 October 1908

Rev. W. Baumber, Wesleyan Minister

No	79
Date of Notice	9 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Adkins	Catherine Annie Berry
	💍 1908/3034
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Signalman	Railways Dressmaker
Age	33 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	9 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Timaru
Folio	08/7817
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Baumber, Wesleyan Minister

14 October 1908

Charles Henry Peterson
Jessie May Darby

Charles Henry Peterson
Jessie May Darby
💍 1908/3008

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher and Baker
Household duties

36 years
26 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
3 months

St. Mary's English Church, Timaru

08/7805

14 October 1908

Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

No	80
Date of Notice	14 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Peterson	Jessie May Darby
	💍 1908/3008
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher and Baker	Household duties
Age	36 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	08/7805
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

15 October 1908

Robert John Wright
Jane Gaylor Purdom

Robert John Wright
Jane Taylor Purdom
💍 1908/3012

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

28 years
23 years

Timaru
Timaru

2 years
23 years

Dwellinghouse of L. Rackman, 100 Stafford Street, Timaru

08/7808

15 October 1908

Rev. John Ulphert, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	81
Date of Notice	15 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Wright	Jane Gaylor Purdom
BDM Match (97%)	Robert John Wright	Jane Taylor Purdom
	💍 1908/3012
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	28 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	2 years	23 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of L. Rackman, 100 Stafford Street, Timaru
Folio	08/7808
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Ulphert, Primitive Methodist Minister

21 October 1908

Conway John Lennon
Caroline Irwin

Conway John Lennon
Caroline Irwin
💍 1908/3039

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Household duties

29 years
23 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
23 years

Dwellinghouse of Robert Irwin, Young Belt, Timaru

08/7822

21 October 1908

Rev. Thomas Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	82
Date of Notice	21 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Conway John Lennon	Caroline Irwin
	💍 1908/3039
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Household duties
Age	29 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Robert Irwin, Young Belt, Timaru
Folio	08/7822
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

23 October 1908

Walter Morrison
Mary Eleanor Eliza Berry

Walter Morrison
Mary Eleonar Eliza Bury
💍 1908/3017

Bachelor
Spinster

Platelayer
Household duties

31 years
27 years

Timaru
Timaru

5 days
27 years

Dwellinghouse of Mr. E. Berry, 119 Church Street, Timaru

08/7814

23 October 1908

Rev. J. Buchanan, Independent Free Church Minister

No	83
Date of Notice	23 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Morrison	Mary Eleanor Eliza Berry
BDM Match (92%)	Walter Morrison	Mary Eleonar Eliza Bury
	💍 1908/3017
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Platelayer	Household duties
Age	31 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mr. E. Berry, 119 Church Street, Timaru
Folio	08/7814
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Buchanan, Independent Free Church Minister

31 October 1908

Philip Kennedy Lamb
Grace Ogilvie

Philip Kennedy Lamb
Grace Ogilvie
💍 1908/3040

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachbuilder
Household Duties

28 years
28 years

Timaru
Timaru

5 years
28 years

Dwellinghouse of Margaret Ogilvie, Wai-iti Road

08/7823

31 October 1908

Rev. Thomas Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	84
Date of Notice	31 October 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip Kennedy Lamb	Grace Ogilvie
	💍 1908/3040
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachbuilder	Household Duties
Age	28 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Margaret Ogilvie, Wai-iti Road
Folio	08/7823
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas 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).