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 027

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 December 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

529

28 November 1910

John Patrick Maunty
Rose Worland

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
domestic duties

30
23

Rakaia
Rakaia

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton

10/7758

28 November 1910

Dean O'Donnell

No	529
Date of Notice	28 November 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Patrick Maunty	Rose Worland
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	domestic duties
Age	30	23
Dwelling Place	Rakaia	Rakaia
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton
Folio	10/7758
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 November 1910
Officiating Minister	Dean O'Donnell

530

6 December 1910

William Martin Collins
Mabel Caroline Rusden

William Martin Collins
Mabel Caroline Rusden
💍 1910/7038

Bachelor
Spinster

Machinist
domestic duties

33
27

Ashburton
Ashburton

30 years
18 months

Baring Square Church, Ashburton

10/7402

6 December 1910

Rev. H. E. Bellhouse

No	530
Date of Notice	6 December 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Martin Collins	Mabel Caroline Rusden
	💍 1910/7038
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Machinist	domestic duties
Age	33	27
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	30 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Baring Square Church, Ashburton
Folio	10/7402
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 December 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Bellhouse

531

7 December 1910

Robert Leroy
Jessie Gillespie

Robert Croy
Jessie Gilliespie
💍 1910/7338

Robert Leask
Jessie Dickson
💍 1910/5558

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

28
25

Ashburton
Wheatstone

28 years
30 years

Presbyterian Church, Ashburton

10/7765

7 December 1910

Rev. G. B. Inglis

No	531
Date of Notice	7 December 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Leroy	Jessie Gillespie
BDM Match (89%)	Robert Croy	Jessie Gilliespie
	💍 1910/7338
BDM Match (66%)	Robert Leask	Jessie Dickson
	💍 1910/5558
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Wheatstone
Length of Residence	28 years	30 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Ashburton
Folio	10/7765
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 December 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. B. Inglis

558

29 November 1910

George Stephenson Chapman
Hilda Margaret Parker

George Stephenson Chapman
Hilda Margaret Parker
💍 1910/7342

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

26
25

Windermere
Willowby

26 years
15 years

Methodist Church, Willowby

10/7769

29 November 1910

Rev. S. A. D. Geryman

No	558
Date of Notice	29 November 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Stephenson Chapman	Hilda Margaret Parker
	💍 1910/7342
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Windermere	Willowby
Length of Residence	26 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Willowby
Folio	10/7769
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 November 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. A. D. Geryman

559

5 December 1910

Arthur Frank Hatherall Neate
Effie May Jotty

Arthur Frank Watherall Neate
Effie Mary Totty
💍 1910/7043

Bachelor
Spinster

Musician
Clerk

24
21

Ashburton
Ashburton

2 weeks
21 years

St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton

10/7406

5 December 1910

Rev. E. Whitehouse

No	559
Date of Notice	5 December 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Frank Hatherall Neate	Effie May Jotty
BDM Match (92%)	Arthur Frank Watherall Neate	Effie Mary Totty
	💍 1910/7043
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Musician	Clerk
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	2 weeks	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephens Church of England, Ashburton
Folio	10/7406
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 December 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Whitehouse

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).