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 010

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 March 1908 Registrar William Winsbury White

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

270

31 January 1908

John Arthur Our
Jane Charlotte White

John Arthur Orr
Jane Charlotte White
💍 1908/1295

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
domestic duties

35
34

Lismore
25 Bath Street Christchurch

12 years
3 years

St Michaels Church of England Christ Church

08/1319

31 January 1908

Archdeacon Averill M.A.

No	270
Date of Notice	31 January 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Arthur Our	Jane Charlotte White
BDM Match (97%)	John Arthur Orr	Jane Charlotte White
	💍 1908/1295
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	35	34
Dwelling Place	Lismore	25 Bath Street Christchurch
Length of Residence	12 years	3 years
Marriage Place	St Michaels Church of England Christ Church
Folio	08/1319
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 January 1908
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon Averill M.A.

271

3 February 1908

Donald McIntosh
Eliza Kelly

Donald McIntosh
Eliza Kelly
💍 1908/1210

Bachelor
Widow

farmer
domestic duties

60
55

Allenton
Allenton

4 years
4 years

Office of the Registrar Ashburton

08/1256

3 February 1908

W. W. White Registrar

No	271
Date of Notice	3 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald McIntosh	Eliza Kelly
	💍 1908/1210
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	farmer	domestic duties
Age	60	55
Dwelling Place	Allenton	Allenton
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Office of the Registrar Ashburton
Folio	08/1256
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 February 1908
Officiating Minister	W. W. White Registrar

272

4 February 1908

John Jamison
Jessie Watson Smith

John Jameson
Jessie Watson Smith
💍 1908/5004

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
domestic duties

24
18

Christchurch
Ashburton

4 months
18 years

Presbyterian Manse Christchurch

08/3572

Alexander Watson Smith, father of minor

4 February 1908

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	272
Date of Notice	4 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Jamison	Jessie Watson Smith
BDM Match (96%)	John Jameson	Jessie Watson Smith
	💍 1908/5004
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	domestic duties
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Ashburton
Length of Residence	4 months	18 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse Christchurch
Folio	08/3572
Consent	Alexander Watson Smith, father of minor
Date of Certificate	4 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

273

11 February 1908

John McGuinness
Jane Winifred Dwyer

John McGuinness
Jane Winifred Dwyer
💍 1908/1241

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Laborer
domestic duties

29
19

Lowcliff
Hinds

9 years
14 years

Roman Catholic Church Ashburton

08/1264

Mary Dwyer, Mother of Minor

11 February 1908

Rev. J. J. O'Donnell

No	273
Date of Notice	11 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McGuinness	Jane Winifred Dwyer
	💍 1908/1241
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Laborer	domestic duties
Age	29	19
Dwelling Place	Lowcliff	Hinds
Length of Residence	9 years	14 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Ashburton
Folio	08/1264
Consent	Mary Dwyer, Mother of Minor
Date of Certificate	11 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. O'Donnell

274

12 February 1908

Michael George Lismore O'Callaghan
Florence Mary Standish

Michael George Lismore OCallaghan
Florence Mary Shandish
💍 1908/1244

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

30
31

Ashburton
Ashburton

3 days
31 years

St Stephens Church of England Ashburton

08/1267

12 February 1908

Rev. E. Whitehouse

No	274
Date of Notice	12 February 1908
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael George Lismore O'Callaghan	Florence Mary Standish
BDM Match (96%)	Michael George Lismore OCallaghan	Florence Mary Shandish
	💍 1908/1244
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	30	31
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	31 years
Marriage Place	St Stephens Church of England Ashburton
Folio	08/1267
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 February 1908
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Whitehouse

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).