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 793

District of Tokomairiro Quarter ending 31 March 1908

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

7 January 1908

Stuart Charles Edward Finch
Jessie Robinson

Bachelor
Spinster

Photographer
Domestic Duties

26
22

Christchurch
Candletown

1 Year
22 Yrs

Mrs G Finchs Residence

08/1825

7 January 1908

Rev W H Howes

No	56
Date of Notice	7 January 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stuart Charles Edward Finch	Jessie Robinson
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Photographer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Candletown
Length of Residence	1 Year	22 Yrs
Marriage Place	Mrs G Finchs Residence
Folio	08/1825
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev W H Howes

21 January 1908

Finlay John Naylor
Mary Naylor

John Finlay
Mary Naylor
💍 1908/3959

Bachelor
Widow

Farm Manager
Landed Proprietor

45
46

Matakahui
Clyde

5 Yrs
21 Yrs

Anglican Church, Milton

08/1820

24 January 1908

Rev J C Small

No	57
Date of Notice	21 January 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Finlay John Naylor	Mary Naylor
BDM Match (67%)	John Finlay	Mary Naylor
	💍 1908/3959
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farm Manager	Landed Proprietor
Age	45	46
Dwelling Place	Matakahui	Clyde
Length of Residence	5 Yrs	21 Yrs
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Milton
Folio	08/1820
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 January 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev J C Small

5 February 1908

Thomson Frederick Austin Gray
Marion Gray

Frederick Austin Thomson
Marion Gray
💍 1908/3961

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Office
Domestic Duties

28
28

Dunedin
Milton

18 Months
28 Yrs

Presbyterian Church, Milton

08/1822

5 February 1908

Rev Geo Miller

No	58
Date of Notice	5 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomson Frederick Austin Gray	Marion Gray
BDM Match (74%)	Frederick Austin Thomson	Marion Gray
	💍 1908/3961
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Office	Domestic Duties
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Milton
Length of Residence	18 Months	28 Yrs
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Milton
Folio	08/1822
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev Geo Miller

7 February 1908

Reid Henry Stephen Shand
Annie Shand

Henry Stephen Reid
Annie Shand
💍 1908/3967

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

23
23

Hillend
Hillend

9 Months
7 Yrs

Mr C Shands Residence

08/1828

7 February 1908

Rev P B Fraser

No	59
Date of Notice	7 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reid Henry Stephen Shand	Annie Shand
BDM Match (81%)	Henry Stephen Reid	Annie Shand
	💍 1908/3967
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Hillend	Hillend
Length of Residence	9 Months	7 Yrs
Marriage Place	Mr C Shands Residence
Folio	08/1828
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev P B Fraser

10 February 1908

Moir Joseph Burnett McPherson
Robina Bessie McPherson

Joseph Burnett Moir
Robina Jessie McPherson
💍 1908/3962

Widower
Spinster

Tinsmith
Domestic Duties

56
61

Invercargill
Milton

25 Yrs
3 Days

Mrs E Reids Residence

08/1823

10 February 1908

Rev Geo Miller

No	60
Date of Notice	10 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Moir Joseph Burnett McPherson	Robina Bessie McPherson
BDM Match (77%)	Joseph Burnett Moir	Robina Jessie McPherson
	💍 1908/3962
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Tinsmith	Domestic Duties
Age	56	61
Dwelling Place	Invercargill	Milton
Length of Residence	25 Yrs	3 Days
Marriage Place	Mrs E Reids Residence
Folio	08/1823
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev Geo Miller

22 February 1908

Mills Reginald Armstrong
Euphemia Forbes Armstrong

Reginald Mills
Euphemia Forbes Armstrong
💍 1908/3969

Divorced
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Duties

36
37

Maori Hill, Dunedin
Hillend

4 Yrs
30 Yrs

Mr A Armstrongs Residence

08/1829

26 February 1908

Rev P B Fraser

No	61
Date of Notice	22 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Mills Reginald Armstrong	Euphemia Forbes Armstrong
BDM Match (69%)	Reginald Mills	Euphemia Forbes Armstrong
	💍 1908/3969
Condition	Divorced	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	36	37
Dwelling Place	Maori Hill, Dunedin	Hillend
Length of Residence	4 Yrs	30 Yrs
Marriage Place	Mr A Armstrongs Residence
Folio	08/1829
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev P B Fraser

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).