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 771

District of Riverton Quarter ending 30 June 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

765

9 April 1908

John Brown McLean (Jr)
Florence Mary Cassels

John Brown McLean
Florence Mary Cassels
💍 1908/5651

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

31
30

Thornbury
Riverton

34 years
30 years

Presbyterian Church, Thornbury

08/4166

9 April 1908

Rev. C. A. Gray

No	765
Date of Notice	9 April 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Brown McLean (Jr)	Florence Mary Cassels
BDM Match (89%)	John Brown McLean	Florence Mary Cassels
	💍 1908/5651
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	31	30
Dwelling Place	Thornbury	Riverton
Length of Residence	34 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Thornbury
Folio	08/4166
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Gray

766

9 April 1908

James Morland
Veda Gladys Thomson

James Morland
Veda Gladys Thomson
💍 1908/5664

Bachelor
Spinster

Clergyman
Nil

28
24

Riverton
Waikouaiti

18 months
4 years

Church of England, Waikouaiti

08/4188

9 April 1908

Most Rev. S. T. Nevill

No	766
Date of Notice	9 April 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Morland	Veda Gladys Thomson
	💍 1908/5664
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clergyman	Nil
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Waikouaiti
Length of Residence	18 months	4 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Waikouaiti
Folio	08/4188
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 April 1908
Officiating Minister	Most Rev. S. T. Nevill

767

11 April 1908

Archibald Campbell McGavock
Rachel Matilda Graves

Archibald Campbell McGavock
Rachel Matilda Grave
💍 1908/7488

Widower
Widow

Civil Engineer
Domestic Duties

31
28

Riverton
Riverton

5 weeks
18 months

Church of England, Riverton

08/6102

11 April 1908

Rev. J. Morland

No	767
Date of Notice	11 April 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Campbell McGavock	Rachel Matilda Graves
BDM Match (98%)	Archibald Campbell McGavock	Rachel Matilda Grave
	💍 1908/7488
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Civil Engineer	Domestic Duties
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	5 weeks	18 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Riverton
Folio	08/6102
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Morland

768

15 April 1908

Alexander Frew
Jessie Margaret Ellen Anderson

Alexander Frew
Jessie Margaret Helen Anderson
💍 1908/5650

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

36
23

Waikivi
Wild Bush

3 days
Nearly 20 years

Residence of Mr. Robert Anderson, Riverton

08/4165

15 April 1908

Rev. C. A. Foxton

No	768
Date of Notice	15 April 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Frew	Jessie Margaret Ellen Anderson
BDM Match (97%)	Alexander Frew	Jessie Margaret Helen Anderson
	💍 1908/5650
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	36	23
Dwelling Place	Waikivi	Wild Bush
Length of Residence	3 days	Nearly 20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Robert Anderson, Riverton
Folio	08/4165
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. A. Foxton

769

21 April 1908

Alexander Robert Jenkins
Jessie Isabella McPhee

Alexander Robert Jenkins
Jessie Isabella McPhee
💍 1908/5649

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Duties

27
24

Gore
Colac Bay

27 years
14 years

Office of the Registrar, Riverton

08/4164

21 April 1908

Arthur Thomas Cavell, Deputy Registrar

No	769
Date of Notice	21 April 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Robert Jenkins	Jessie Isabella McPhee
	💍 1908/5649
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Gore	Colac Bay
Length of Residence	27 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar, Riverton
Folio	08/4164
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1908
Officiating Minister	Arthur Thomas Cavell, Deputy Registrar

770

31 May 1908

John Fallow
Agnes Nelson Douglas Stobo

John Fallow
Agnes Helen Douglas Stobo
💍 1908/5519

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

27
21

Thornbury
Collingwood, Invercargill

27 years
4 years

Residence of Thomas Stobo, Invercargill

08/4056

31 May 1908

Rev. J. R. Cumming

No	770
Date of Notice	31 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Fallow	Agnes Nelson Douglas Stobo
BDM Match (94%)	John Fallow	Agnes Helen Douglas Stobo
	💍 1908/5519
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Thornbury	Collingwood, Invercargill
Length of Residence	27 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Thomas Stobo, Invercargill
Folio	08/4056
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Cumming

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).