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 138

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 30 June 1910 Registrar Agnes 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

827

27 April 1910

Arthur Harris
Bessie Williams

Arthur Harris
Bessie Williams
💍 1910/3230

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic Servant

30
25

Geraldine
Geraldine

3 weeks
3 days

St Mary's Church, Geraldine

10/3292

27 April 1910

Rev. Staples Hamilton (Church of England)

No	827
Date of Notice	27 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Harris	Bessie Williams
	💍 1910/3230
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic Servant
Age	30	25
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 weeks	3 days
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Geraldine
Folio	10/3292
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton (Church of England)

828

25 May 1910

Harold Barwick Mitchell
Annie Florence Davidson

Harold Bariwick Mitchell
Annie Florence Davidson
💍 1910/2980

Bachelor
Spinster

Book Keeper
Domestic Duties

24
28

Geraldine
Timaru

2 years
4 years

House of Mr John Davidson, Trafalgar Street, Timaru

10/3100

25 May 1910

Rev. A. M. Caldwell (Presbyterian)

No	828
Date of Notice	25 May 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harold Barwick Mitchell	Annie Florence Davidson
BDM Match (98%)	Harold Bariwick Mitchell	Annie Florence Davidson
	💍 1910/2980
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Book Keeper	Domestic Duties
Age	24	28
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Timaru
Length of Residence	2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr John Davidson, Trafalgar Street, Timaru
Folio	10/3100
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 May 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. M. Caldwell (Presbyterian)

829

7 June 1910

Alexander Cunningham Eymington
Connie Louisa Burridge

Alexander Cunningham Lymington
Annie Louisa Burridge
💍 1910/3233

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner
Tailoress

30
31

Geraldine
Geraldine

3 days
6 weeks

St Mary's Church, Geraldine

10/3294

7 June 1910

Rev. Staples Hamilton (Church of England)

No	829
Date of Notice	7 June 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Cunningham Eymington	Connie Louisa Burridge
BDM Match (94%)	Alexander Cunningham Lymington	Annie Louisa Burridge
	💍 1910/3233
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Tailoress
Age	30	31
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	St Mary's Church, Geraldine
Folio	10/3294
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton (Church of England)

830

7 June 1910

Walter Charteris
Ida May Stubbs

Walter Charteris
Ula May Stubbs
💍 1910/3232

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic Servant

23
23

Arundel
Arundel

3 days
1 week

Howard Hall, Arundel

10/3293

7 June 1910

Rev. Staples Hamilton (Church of England)

No	830
Date of Notice	7 June 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Charteris	Ida May Stubbs
BDM Match (93%)	Walter Charteris	Ula May Stubbs
	💍 1910/3232
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Servant
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Arundel	Arundel
Length of Residence	3 days	1 week
Marriage Place	Howard Hall, Arundel
Folio	10/3293
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 June 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton (Church of England)

831

15 June 1910

Walter Ineson
Ellen Lewis

Walter Ineson
Ellen Lewis
💍 1910/3234

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Servant

24
20

Geraldine
Arundel

16 years
20 years

Howard Hall, Arundel

10/3295

Charles Lewis, Father

15 June 1910

Rev. Staples Hamilton (Church of England)

No	831
Date of Notice	15 June 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter Ineson	Ellen Lewis
	💍 1910/3234
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Servant
Age	24	20
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Arundel
Length of Residence	16 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Howard Hall, Arundel
Folio	10/3295
Consent	Charles Lewis, Father
Date of Certificate	15 June 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).