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 274

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 June 1908 Registrar Alex. Granfory

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

26 May 1908

David Smith
Frances Matilda Shears

David Smith Paul Welch
Frances Matilda Shears
💍 1908/5188

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Laundress

24
25

Timaru
Timaru

10 months
25 years

Primitive Methodist Church Timaru

08/3705

26 May 1908

Rev. J. Ulphert, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	40
Date of Notice	26 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Smith	Frances Matilda Shears
BDM Match (75%)	David Smith Paul Welch	Frances Matilda Shears
	💍 1908/5188
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Laundress
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	10 months	25 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church Timaru
Folio	08/3705
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ulphert, Primitive Methodist Minister

27 May 1908

Luke Story
Jane Somelda McSweeney

Luke Story
Jane Emelda McSweeney
💍 1908/5202

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household Duties

23
23

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
5 years

Roman Catholic Church Timaru

08/3718

27 May 1908

Rev. John Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	41
Date of Notice	27 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Luke Story	Jane Somelda McSweeney
BDM Match (95%)	Luke Story	Jane Emelda McSweeney
	💍 1908/5202
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household Duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Timaru
Folio	08/3718
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

30 May 1908

Ernest Eli Firkin
Fanny Murray

Ernest Eli Firkin
Fanny Murray
💍 1908/7506

Bachelor
Spinster

Hairdresser
Household Duties

27
24

Timaru
Half-way Bush near Dunedin

2 years
5 years

Dwellinghouse of Mrs. John Hood, Half-way Bush near Dunedin

08/6121

30 May 1908

Rev. R. R. Sutherland, Presbyterian Minister

No	42
Date of Notice	30 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Eli Firkin	Fanny Murray
	💍 1908/7506
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hairdresser	Household Duties
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Half-way Bush near Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mrs. John Hood, Half-way Bush near Dunedin
Folio	08/6121
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. R. Sutherland, Presbyterian Minister

30 May 1908

David Samuel Webster
Mary Janet Webster

David Samuel Webster
Mary Janet Webster
💍 1908/5191

Bachelor
Widow

Bricklayer
Weaver

28
50

Timaru
Timaru

20 months
2 months

Residence of Robert Webster, 2 Egality Avenue, Timaru

08/3708

30 May 1908

Rev. Thomas Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	43
Date of Notice	30 May 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Samuel Webster	Mary Janet Webster
	💍 1908/5191
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Bricklayer	Weaver
Age	28	50
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	20 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Robert Webster, 2 Egality Avenue, Timaru
Folio	08/3708
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 May 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thomas Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

1 June 1908

Walter Blackmore
Susannah Whittaker

Walter Blackmore
Susannah Whittaker
💍 1908/5230

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
Household Duties

44
44

Waimataitai
Beaconsfield

16 years
7 months

Dwellinghouse of H. Simmons, Beaconsfield

08/3726

1 June 1908

Rev. Mr. Baumber, Wesleyan Minister

No	44
Date of Notice	1 June 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Blackmore	Susannah Whittaker
	💍 1908/5230
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	Household Duties
Age	44	44
Dwelling Place	Waimataitai	Beaconsfield
Length of Residence	16 years	7 months
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of H. Simmons, Beaconsfield
Folio	08/3726
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 June 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. Mr. Baumber, Wesleyan Minister

2 June 1908

James Rooney
Annie Blackmore

James Rooney
Annie Blackmore
💍 1908/5203

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household Duties

29
23

Pareora
Pareora

3 days
23 years

Roman Catholic Church Timaru

08/3719

2 June 1908

Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	45
Date of Notice	2 June 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Rooney	Annie Blackmore
	💍 1908/5203
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household Duties
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Pareora	Pareora
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Timaru
Folio	08/3719
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 June 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

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).