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 769

District of Riverton Quarter ending 31 March 1908 Registrar Daniel Paul Phillips

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

760

3 January 1908

Charles Henry Collett
Elsie May Buff

Charles Henry Collett
Elsie May Cuff
💍 1908/3975

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Painter
Dressmaker

23
21

Gore
Gore

4 days
3 days

Private Residence of Rev. C. A. Foston, Riverton

08/1813

3 January 1908

Rev. C. A. Foston

No	760
Date of Notice	3 January 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Henry Collett	Elsie May Buff
BDM Match (96%)	Charles Henry Collett	Elsie May Cuff
	💍 1908/3975
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Painter	Dressmaker
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Gore	Gore
Length of Residence	4 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Private Residence of Rev. C. A. Foston, Riverton
Folio	08/1813
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 January 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Foston

761

8 February 1908

George McNamara
Theresa Gertrude Connor

George McNamara
Teresa Gertrude Connor
💍 1908/3978

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Clerk
Domestic duties

26
24

Invercargill
Riverton

25 years
21 months

Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill

08/1816

8 February 1908

Rev. P. Murphy

No	761
Date of Notice	8 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George McNamara	Theresa Gertrude Connor
BDM Match (98%)	George McNamara	Teresa Gertrude Connor
	💍 1908/3978
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	26	24
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Riverton
Length of Residence	25 years	21 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Invercargill
Folio	08/1816
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Murphy

762

16 March 1908

Mabille Wood
Edith Maud Cleaver

Mabille Wood
Edith Maud Cleaver
💍 1908/3976

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

42
23

Riverton
Riverton

42 years
5 years

Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Riverton

08/1814

16 March 1908

D. P. Phillips, Registrar

No	762
Date of Notice	16 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mabille Wood	Edith Maud Cleaver
	💍 1908/3976
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	42	23
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	42 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Riverton
Folio	08/1814
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1908
Officiating Minister	D. P. Phillips, Registrar

763

16 March 1908

John Thomas Crow
Jessie Cuckow

John Thomas Crow
Jessie Cuckow
💍 1908/3974

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

23
24

Waimatuku
Waimatuku

3 days
13 years

Residence of Edward Cuckow, Waimatuku

08/1812

16 March 1908

Rev. A. D. Kirkland

No	763
Date of Notice	16 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas Crow	Jessie Cuckow
	💍 1908/3974
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Waimatuku	Waimatuku
Length of Residence	3 days	13 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Edward Cuckow, Waimatuku
Folio	08/1812
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. D. Kirkland

764

24 March 1908

Edwin James Jones
Edith Annie Hill

Edwin James Jones
Edith Annie Hill
💍 1908/3977

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
24

Drummond
Wild Bush

3 days
5 years

Residence of Edwin Hill, Riverton

08/1815

24 March 1908

Rev. H. H. Barton

No	764
Date of Notice	24 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin James Jones	Edith Annie Hill
	💍 1908/3977
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Drummond	Wild Bush
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Edwin Hill, Riverton
Folio	08/1815
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. H. Barton

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).