Intentions to Marry, 1910 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840444, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1910 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1910a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1910b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1910c).

Page 013

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 June 1910 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

462

2 April 1910

John O'Connor
Bridget Breen

John OConnor
Bridget Breen
💍 1910/6071

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

30
26

Ashburton
Hampstead

20 years
2 years

at the Roman Catholic Church Ashburton

10/670

2 April 1910

Dean O'Donnell

No	462
Date of Notice	2 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John O'Connor	Bridget Breen
BDM Match (96%)	John OConnor	Bridget Breen
	💍 1910/6071
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	30	26
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Hampstead
Length of Residence	20 years	2 years
Marriage Place	at the Roman Catholic Church Ashburton
Folio	10/670
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Dean O'Donnell

463

2 April 1910

Richard Austin
Laura Campbell Smith

Richard Austin
Laura Campbell Smith
💍 1910/3158

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

33
20

Lismore
Lismore

7 years
10 years

at the School Lismore

10/3309

Edward Smith father of Minor

2 April 1910

Rev James Wilson

No	463
Date of Notice	2 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Austin	Laura Campbell Smith
	💍 1910/3158
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	33	20
Dwelling Place	Lismore	Lismore
Length of Residence	7 years	10 years
Marriage Place	at the School Lismore
Folio	10/3309
Consent	Edward Smith father of Minor
Date of Certificate	2 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev James Wilson

464

12 April 1910

Frederick Anderson
Susan Bray

Frederick Anderson
Susan Bray
💍 1910/3242

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
domestic duties

27
22

Allenton
Ashburton

6 years
1 Week

at the dwelling of J. F. Kennedy Havelock Street Ashburton

10/3280

15 April 1910

Rev G. B. Inglis

No	464
Date of Notice	12 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Anderson	Susan Bray
	💍 1910/3242
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	domestic duties
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Allenton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	6 years	1 Week
Marriage Place	at the dwelling of J. F. Kennedy Havelock Street Ashburton
Folio	10/3280
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev G. B. Inglis

465

13 April 1910

Percival Hurrell
Elizabeth Helen Brewer Skilling

Percival Hanell
Elizabeth Helen Brewer Skilling
💍 1910/3108

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman
domestic duties

31
18

Christchurch
Flemington

3 days
18 years

at the dwelling of W. C. Skilling, Flemington

10/3258

William Cochrane Skilling father of minor

13 April 1910

Rev. H. E. Bellhouse

No	465
Date of Notice	13 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percival Hurrell	Elizabeth Helen Brewer Skilling
BDM Match (91%)	Percival Hanell	Elizabeth Helen Brewer Skilling
	💍 1910/3108
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman	domestic duties
Age	31	18
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Flemington
Length of Residence	3 days	18 years
Marriage Place	at the dwelling of W. C. Skilling, Flemington
Folio	10/3258
Consent	William Cochrane Skilling father of minor
Date of Certificate	13 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Bellhouse

466

13 April 1910

John Hickey
Harriet Jane Rollinson

John Hickey
Harriet Jane Rollinson
💍 1910/3174

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

30
27

Christchurch
Westerfield

3 days
6 Weeks

at the dwelling of Mrs Rollinson Westerfield

10/3303

13 April 1910

Rev B. J. Fooke

No	466
Date of Notice	13 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hickey	Harriet Jane Rollinson
	💍 1910/3174
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	30	27
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Westerfield
Length of Residence	3 days	6 Weeks
Marriage Place	at the dwelling of Mrs Rollinson Westerfield
Folio	10/3303
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev B. J. Fooke

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).