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 469

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 December 1908 Registrar Henry Maxwell

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

564

16 November 1908

James Gerald Stirkely Doorly
Forrestina Muriel Whitson

James Gerald Stokely Doorly
Forrestina Muriel Whitson
💍 1908/3145

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Officer

29 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
29 years

In Knox Church, Dunedin

08/7968

16 November 1908

Rev. W. Hewitson

No	564
Date of Notice	16 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gerald Stirkely Doorly	Forrestina Muriel Whitson
BDM Match (96%)	James Gerald Stokely Doorly	Forrestina Muriel Whitson
	💍 1908/3145
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Officer
Age	29 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	29 years
Marriage Place	In Knox Church, Dunedin
Folio	08/7968
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Hewitson

565

16 November 1908

Ewart Gladstone Brown
Isabel Mary Patton

Ewart Gladstone Brown
Isabel Mary Patton
💍 1908/8472

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer

26 years
23 years

Dunedin
Anderson's Bay

3 days
4 months

St. Michael's Church, Anderson's Bay

08/7930

16 November 1908

Rev. G. Fynes, Clinton

No	565
Date of Notice	16 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ewart Gladstone Brown	Isabel Mary Patton
	💍 1908/8472
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer
Age	26 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Anderson's Bay
Length of Residence	3 days	4 months
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Anderson's Bay
Folio	08/7930
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Fynes, Clinton

566

16 November 1908

David Bowman Smith
Ann Mitchell

David Bowman Smith
Ann Mitchell
💍 1908/3615

Bachelor
Spinster

Tinsmith

25 years
24 years

Mornington
Mornington

25 years
3 years

In the Methodist Church, Lawrence Street, Mornington

08/8009

16 November 1908

Rev. D. J. Murray

No	566
Date of Notice	16 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Bowman Smith	Ann Mitchell
	💍 1908/3615
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tinsmith
Age	25 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Mornington
Length of Residence	25 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the Methodist Church, Lawrence Street, Mornington
Folio	08/8009
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. J. Murray

567

16 November 1908

Arthur Ernest Berry
Eleanor Mary May Deans

Arthur Ernest Berry
Eleanor Mary May Deans
💍 1908/3543

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

19 years
19 years

Abbotsford
South Dunedin

14 years
12 years

In the house of J. H. Deans, 88 Macandrew Road, South Dunedin

08/8372

Henry Berry & George Deans, the fathers respectively

16 November 1908

Rev. W. Griggs

No	567
Date of Notice	16 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Ernest Berry	Eleanor Mary May Deans
	💍 1908/3543
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	19 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Abbotsford	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	14 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the house of J. H. Deans, 88 Macandrew Road, South Dunedin
Folio	08/8372
Consent	Henry Berry & George Deans, the fathers respectively
Date of Certificate	16 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Griggs

568

17 November 1908

James Alexander Stables
Amelia Shaw

James Alexander Stables
Amelia Shaw
💍 1908/3116

Bachelor
Spinster

Insurance Clerk

32 years
27 years

Roslyn
Roslyn

3 days
6 years

In St. John's Church, Roslyn

08/7931

17 November 1908

Rev. H. W. L. Snow

No	568
Date of Notice	17 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Alexander Stables	Amelia Shaw
	💍 1908/3116
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Insurance Clerk
Age	32 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Roslyn
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	In St. John's Church, Roslyn
Folio	08/7931
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. L. Snow

569

18 November 1908

Thomas Bolin Arlidge
Martha Brett Mackisack

Thomas Bolton Arlidge
Martha Brett Mackisack
💍 1908/3127

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

32 years
24 years

Roslyn
Roslyn

3 days
4 years

In St. John's Church, Roslyn

08/7932

18 November 1908

Rev. H. W. L. Snow

No	569
Date of Notice	18 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Bolin Arlidge	Martha Brett Mackisack
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Bolton Arlidge	Martha Brett Mackisack
	💍 1908/3127
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	32 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Roslyn
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	In St. John's Church, Roslyn
Folio	08/7932
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. W. L. Snow

570

18 November 1908

Charles George Dunham
Kate Edith Brixton

Charles George Dunham
Kate Edith Brixton
💍 1908/3206

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee

23 years
30 years

Caversham
St. Kilda

3 days
12 years

In the Congregational Church, Caversham

08/8030

18 November 1908

Rev. W. Saunders

No	570
Date of Notice	18 November 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles George Dunham	Kate Edith Brixton
	💍 1908/3206
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee
Age	23 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	St. Kilda
Length of Residence	3 days	12 years
Marriage Place	In the Congregational Church, Caversham
Folio	08/8030
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 November 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Saunders

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).