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 132

District of Ellesmere Quarter ending 30 September 1910 Registrar J. C. Parker

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

17/10

4 July 1910

Selly Silas Trearers
Julia Hamilton

Selby Silas Weavers
Julia Hamilton
💍 1910/5519

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30 years
27 years

Killinchy
Irwell

1 year
16 years

Anglican Church

10/5820

4 July 1910

Rev. I. R. Howland

No	17/10
Date of Notice	4 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Selly Silas Trearers	Julia Hamilton
BDM Match (90%)	Selby Silas Weavers	Julia Hamilton
	💍 1910/5519
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Killinchy	Irwell
Length of Residence	1 year	16 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Church
Folio	10/5820
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. I. R. Howland

18/10

17 August 1910

Leonard Leslie Cooper
Helena Theresa McLachlan

Leonard Leslie Cooper
Alma Theresa McLachlan
💍 1910/5138

Bachelor
Spinster

Iron moulder
Domestic Duties

27 years
25 years

Sydenham
Doyleston

21 years
25 years

St. David's Church, Christchurch

10/1371

17 August 1910

Rev. J. C. Dunwood

No	18/10
Date of Notice	17 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Leslie Cooper	Helena Theresa McLachlan
BDM Match (92%)	Leonard Leslie Cooper	Alma Theresa McLachlan
	💍 1910/5138
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Iron moulder	Domestic Duties
Age	27 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Doyleston
Length of Residence	21 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St. David's Church, Christchurch
Folio	10/1371
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 August 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Dunwood

19/10

21 September 1910

Edwin George Church
Margery Jamieson

Edwin George Church
Margery Jamieson
💍 1910/5139

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30 years
25 years

Ashburton
Dunsandel

30 years
25 years

Presbyterian Church, Ashburton

10/1372

21 September 1910

Rev. J. C. Dunwood

No	19/10
Date of Notice	21 September 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin George Church	Margery Jamieson
	💍 1910/5139
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Dunsandel
Length of Residence	30 years	25 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Ashburton
Folio	10/1372
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 September 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Dunwood

20/10

21 September 1910

William John Lambie
Jane Tod

William John Lambie
Jane Tod
💍 1910/5140

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

33 years
24 years

Lakeside
Doyleston

33 years
21 years

Presbyterian Church

10/1373

21 September 1910

Rev. J. C. Dunwood

No	20/10
Date of Notice	21 September 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Lambie	Jane Tod
	💍 1910/5140
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	33 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Lakeside	Doyleston
Length of Residence	33 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	10/1373
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 September 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Dunwood

21/10

21 September 1910

Bernard Vincent Tully
Mary Maud Slattery

Bernard Vincent Tully
Mary Maude Slattery
💍 1910/4711

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

31 years
32 years

Methven
Southbridge

3 years
32 years

Catholic Church, Methven

10/4871

21 September 1910

Rev. Francis Hill

No	21/10
Date of Notice	21 September 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bernard Vincent Tully	Mary Maud Slattery
BDM Match (97%)	Bernard Vincent Tully	Mary Maude Slattery
	💍 1910/4711
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	31 years	32 years
Dwelling Place	Methven	Southbridge
Length of Residence	3 years	32 years
Marriage Place	Catholic Church, Methven
Folio	10/4871
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 September 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Francis Hill

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).