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 130

District of Ellesmere Quarter ending 30 June 1910 Registrar J E Carter

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

7/10

5 April 1910

Dunlop John McCormick
Georgina Sick

Dunlop John McCormick
Georgina Silk
💍 1910/5465

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Ladys help

45
48

Southbridge
Christchurch

37 years
8 years

Church of St James Southbridge

10/5662

5 April 1910

Rev H G Hawkins

No	7/10
Date of Notice	5 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Dunlop John McCormick	Georgina Sick
BDM Match (96%)	Dunlop John McCormick	Georgina Silk
	💍 1910/5465
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Ladys help
Age	45	48
Dwelling Place	Southbridge	Christchurch
Length of Residence	37 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Church of St James Southbridge
Folio	10/5662
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev H G Hawkins

8/10

8 April 1910

Thomas Bell Howson Junior
Annie Hausen

Thomas Bell Howson
Annie Hansen
💍 1910/5458

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

35
23

Sedgemere
Killinchy

about 30 years
4 years

Anglican Church Killinchy

10/5661

8 April 1910

Rev H G Hawkins

No	8/10
Date of Notice	8 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Bell Howson Junior	Annie Hausen
BDM Match (82%)	Thomas Bell Howson	Annie Hansen
	💍 1910/5458
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	35	23
Dwelling Place	Sedgemere	Killinchy
Length of Residence	about 30 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Killinchy
Folio	10/5661
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev H G Hawkins

9/10

11 April 1910

Arthur Stoddard Rigg
Isabel Charlotte Edwards

Arthur Stoddard Rigg
Charlotte Isabel Edwards
💍 1910/5447

Bachelor
Spinster

Building Contractor
Shorthand Typist

23
24

Masterton
Sedgemere

20 years
about 17 years

Anglican Church Sedgemere

10/5660

11 April 1910

Rev H G Hawkins

No	9/10
Date of Notice	11 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Stoddard Rigg	Isabel Charlotte Edwards
BDM Match (71%)	Arthur Stoddard Rigg	Charlotte Isabel Edwards
	💍 1910/5447
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Building Contractor	Shorthand Typist
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Masterton	Sedgemere
Length of Residence	20 years	about 17 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church Sedgemere
Folio	10/5660
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev H G Hawkins

10/10

13 April 1910

William Wesley Avery
Elizabeth Belton

William Wesley Avery
Elizabeth Belton
💍 1910/3241

Bachelor
Spinster

Methodist Minister
Nurse

32
30

Fairhall Blenheim
Brookside

3 1/2 years
about 30 yrs

In the residence of Belton Bros Brookside

10/3279

13 April 1910

Rev Wm J Slade

No	10/10
Date of Notice	13 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wesley Avery	Elizabeth Belton
	💍 1910/3241
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Methodist Minister	Nurse
Age	32	30
Dwelling Place	Fairhall Blenheim	Brookside
Length of Residence	3 1/2 years	about 30 yrs
Marriage Place	In the residence of Belton Bros Brookside
Folio	10/3279
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev Wm J Slade

11/10

21 April 1910

David Lochhead
Margaretta McLachlan

David Lochhead
Margaretta McLachlan
💍 1910/2966

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

39
27

Leeston
Leeston

39 years
27 years

In the residence of Alexander McLachlan Lakeside

10/3087

21 April 1910

Rev P C Durward

No	11/10
Date of Notice	21 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Lochhead	Margaretta McLachlan
	💍 1910/2966
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	39	27
Dwelling Place	Leeston	Leeston
Length of Residence	39 years	27 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Alexander McLachlan Lakeside
Folio	10/3087
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev P C Durward

12/10

22 April 1910

John Hampson
Eva Hutcheson

John Hampton
Eva Hutcheson
💍 1910/3035

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic Duties

32
25

Southbridge
Southbridge

32 years
25 years

In the residence of Mrs Hutcheson Southbridge

10/3165

22 April 1910

Rev R F Jackson

No	12/10
Date of Notice	22 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hampson	Eva Hutcheson
BDM Match (96%)	John Hampton	Eva Hutcheson
	💍 1910/3035
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	32	25
Dwelling Place	Southbridge	Southbridge
Length of Residence	32 years	25 years
Marriage Place	In the residence of Mrs Hutcheson Southbridge
Folio	10/3165
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev R F Jackson

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).