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 136

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 31 March 1910 Registrar A. Andrews

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

821

7 January 1910

William Samuel Jenkins
Margaret Lewis

William Samuel Jenkins
Margaret Lewis
💍 1910/1527

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

18
20

Peel Forest
Armadale, Rangitata

1 year
20 years

St. Mary's Church, Geraldine

10/1513

George Charles Justin, Father

7 January 1910

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	821
Date of Notice	7 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Samuel Jenkins	Margaret Lewis
	💍 1910/1527
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	18	20
Dwelling Place	Peel Forest	Armadale, Rangitata
Length of Residence	1 year	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Geraldine
Folio	10/1513
Consent	George Charles Justin, Father
Date of Certificate	7 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

822

10 January 1910

Frank Silas Bates
Elizabeth Marshall Muir

Frank Silas Bates
Elizabeth Marshall Muir
💍 1910/1531

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Duties

22
23

Rangitata
Kakahu

3 weeks
1 week

Registrar's Office, Geraldine

10/1517

10 January 1910

A. Andrews, Registrar

No	822
Date of Notice	10 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Silas Bates	Elizabeth Marshall Muir
	💍 1910/1531
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	22	23
Dwelling Place	Rangitata	Kakahu
Length of Residence	3 weeks	1 week
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Geraldine
Folio	10/1517
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1910
Officiating Minister	A. Andrews, Registrar

823

10 January 1910

William Marshall Helm
Elsie Ann Harley

William Marshall Helm
Elsie Ann Harley
💍 1910/1532

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

26
22

Gapes Valley
Gapes Valley

3 months
3 months

Registrar's Office, Geraldine

10/1518

10 January 1910

A. Andrews, Registrar

No	823
Date of Notice	10 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Marshall Helm	Elsie Ann Harley
	💍 1910/1532
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Gapes Valley	Gapes Valley
Length of Residence	3 months	3 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Geraldine
Folio	10/1518
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1910
Officiating Minister	A. Andrews, Registrar

824

14 February 1910

Edward John Deane
Annie Elizabeth Jenkins

Edward John Dunn
Annie Elizabeth Jenkins
💍 1910/1528

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Duties

22
25

Peel Forest
Peel Forest

3 days
25 years

St. Stephen's Church, Peel Forest

10/1514

14 February 1910

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	824
Date of Notice	14 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward John Deane	Annie Elizabeth Jenkins
BDM Match (91%)	Edward John Dunn	Annie Elizabeth Jenkins
	💍 1910/1528
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Peel Forest	Peel Forest
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephen's Church, Peel Forest
Folio	10/1514
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 February 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

825

23 February 1910

James Berry
Gertrude Eastabrook

James Berry
Gertrude Easterbrook
💍 1910/1529

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Duties

22
29

Geraldine
Geraldine

3 days
7 months

St. Mary's Church, Geraldine

10/1515

23 February 1910

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	825
Date of Notice	23 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Berry	Gertrude Eastabrook
BDM Match (95%)	James Berry	Gertrude Easterbrook
	💍 1910/1529
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	22	29
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 days	7 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Geraldine
Folio	10/1515
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

826

28 March 1910

George Findlay
Florence Sarah Wood

George Findlay
Florence Sarah Wood
💍 1910/1530

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Servant

27
24

Geraldine
Geraldine

4 days
6 months

St. Mary's Church, Geraldine

10/1516

28 March 1910

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	826
Date of Notice	28 March 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Findlay	Florence Sarah Wood
	💍 1910/1530
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Servant
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	4 days	6 months
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Geraldine
Folio	10/1516
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 March 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

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).