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 794

District of Tokomairiro Quarter ending 31 March 1908 Registrar P.D. Maguire

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

24 February 1908

Fitzhenry Fredrick
Henderson Agnes

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant
Clerk

35
24

Christchurch
Millburn

35 years
24 years

At Mr M Hendersons Residence, Millburn

08/1826

24 February 1908

Rev W H Howes

No	62
Date of Notice	24 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Fitzhenry Fredrick	Henderson Agnes
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant	Clerk
Age	35	24
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Millburn
Length of Residence	35 years	24 years
Marriage Place	At Mr M Hendersons Residence, Millburn
Folio	08/1826
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev W H Howes

29 February 1908

Dolan Frank Joseph
Casserly Margaret

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Dressmaker

32
34

Milton
Milton

32 years
34 years

Roman Catholic Church

08/4112

29 February 1908

Rev J Oneill

No	63
Date of Notice	29 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Dolan Frank Joseph	Casserly Margaret
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	32	34
Dwelling Place	Milton	Milton
Length of Residence	32 years	34 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	08/4112
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev J Oneill

6 March 1908

McLennan Ewen
Patterson Christina

Widower
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

37
31

Berwick
Berwick

2 years
10 years

House of Mrs I Patterson

08/1819

6 March 1908

Rev R Fairmaid

No	64
Date of Notice	6 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	McLennan Ewen	Patterson Christina
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	37	31
Dwelling Place	Berwick	Berwick
Length of Residence	2 years	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs I Patterson
Folio	08/1819
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev R Fairmaid

11 March 1908

Powley Albert Ernest
Reed Sarah Ann

Bachelor
Spinster

Flourmiller
Dressmaker

26
22

Milton
Milton

26 years
22 years

Anglican Church

08/1821

11 March 1908

Rev J C Small

No	65
Date of Notice	11 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Powley Albert Ernest	Reed Sarah Ann
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flourmiller	Dressmaker
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Milton	Milton
Length of Residence	26 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church
Folio	08/1821
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev J C Small

18 March 1908

Chandler William
Dickson Mary

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

34
29

Waihola
Waihola

34 years
29 years

Registrars Office

08/4113

18 March 1908

W Oxley, Regr of Marriages

No	66
Date of Notice	18 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Chandler William	Dickson Mary
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	34	29
Dwelling Place	Waihola	Waihola
Length of Residence	34 years	29 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office
Folio	08/4113
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1908
Officiating Minister	W Oxley, Regr of Marriages

21 March 1908

Barclay Ralph Carse
Ratcliffe Alice Margaret

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

28
18

Milton
Milton

3 Days
2 years

House of Mr P Shirkey

08/1824

Mary Emma Ratcliffe, Mother

21 March 1908

Rev G Miller

No	67
Date of Notice	21 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Barclay Ralph Carse	Ratcliffe Alice Margaret
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	28	18
Dwelling Place	Milton	Milton
Length of Residence	3 Days	2 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr P Shirkey
Folio	08/1824
Consent	Mary Emma Ratcliffe, Mother
Date of Certificate	21 March 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev G Miller

28 March 1908

McArthur William
Currie Agnes

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Employee
Domestic duties

26
22

Dunedin
Lovells Flat

15 months
20 years

Residence of Mrs Wm McCaws

08/1827

30 March 1908

Rev J Mackie

No	68
Date of Notice	28 March 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	McArthur William	Currie Agnes
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Employee	Domestic duties
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Lovells Flat
Length of Residence	15 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Wm McCaws
Folio	08/1827
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 March 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev J Mackie

10 April 1908

Tweed Andrew
Dunlop Elizabeth Catherine

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

27
25

Lovells Flat
Lovells Flat

18 years
25 years

House of Mr A Dunlop

10 April 1908

Rev P B Fraser

No	69
Date of Notice	10 April 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Tweed Andrew	Dunlop Elizabeth Catherine
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Lovells Flat	Lovells Flat
Length of Residence	18 years	25 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr A Dunlop
Folio
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 April 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).