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 140

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 30 September 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

832

23 July 1910

Samuel Smith
Frances Wimble

Samuel Smith
Frances Wimble
💍 1910/5145

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Housekeeper

38
41

Geraldine
Geraldine

2 years
3 months

The House of Mr William Rae, Geraldine

10/5378

23 July 1910

Rev. G. H. Mann, Primitive Methodist

No	832
Date of Notice	23 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Smith	Frances Wimble
	💍 1910/5145
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Housekeeper
Age	38	41
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	2 years	3 months
Marriage Place	The House of Mr William Rae, Geraldine
Folio	10/5378
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. H. Mann, Primitive Methodist

833

3 August 1910

Richard Frederick Branstull
Emily Ellen Bateman

Richard Frederick Brunskill
Emily Ellen Bateman
💍 1910/5141

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

27
18

Arundel
Arundel

3 days
5 years

The House of Mr Frederick Thomas Bateman, Arundel

10/5374

Frederick Thomas Bateman, Father

3 August 1910

Rev. J. Hamilton, Church of England

No	833
Date of Notice	3 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Frederick Branstull	Emily Ellen Bateman
BDM Match (94%)	Richard Frederick Brunskill	Emily Ellen Bateman
	💍 1910/5141
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	18
Dwelling Place	Arundel	Arundel
Length of Residence	3 days	5 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mr Frederick Thomas Bateman, Arundel
Folio	10/5374
Consent	Frederick Thomas Bateman, Father
Date of Certificate	3 August 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hamilton, Church of England

834

16 August 1910

Henry Bishop
Lily Elizabeth Ford

Henry Bishop
Lily Elizabeth Ford
💍 1910/5142

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter
Domestic Duties

23
24

Geraldine
Belfield, Orari

3 days
3 weeks

St. Mary's Church, Geraldine

10/5375

16 August 1910

Rev. J. Hamilton, Church of England

No	834
Date of Notice	16 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Bishop	Lily Elizabeth Ford
	💍 1910/5142
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter	Domestic Duties
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Belfield, Orari
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church, Geraldine
Folio	10/5375
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 August 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hamilton, Church of England

835

23 August 1910

William Campbell
Amy Florence Evans

William Campbell
Aimee Florence Evans
💍 1910/5143

Bachelor
Spinster

Quarryman
Domestic Duties

26
25

Arundel
Arundel

3 days
25 years

St. Howard Hall, Arundel

10/5376

23 August 1910

Rev. J. Hamilton, Church of England

No	835
Date of Notice	23 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Campbell	Amy Florence Evans
BDM Match (93%)	William Campbell	Aimee Florence Evans
	💍 1910/5143
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Quarryman	Domestic Duties
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Arundel	Arundel
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	St. Howard Hall, Arundel
Folio	10/5376
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 August 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Hamilton, Church of England

836

30 August 1910

Joseph Henry Price
Kate McPherson

Joseph Henry Price
Kate Macpherson
💍 1910/4849

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

28
27

Fairfield, Woodbury
Fairfield, Woodbury

3 days
27 years

Presbyterian Church, Woodbury

10/5039

30 August 1910

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	836
Date of Notice	30 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Henry Price	Kate McPherson
BDM Match (93%)	Joseph Henry Price	Kate Macpherson
	💍 1910/4849
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Fairfield, Woodbury	Fairfield, Woodbury
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Woodbury
Folio	10/5039
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 August 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

837

6 September 1910

James Gaffaney
Bridget Leary

James Gaffaney
Bridget Leary
💍 1910/5144

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
School Teacher

32
24

Seadown
Hilrow

32 years
24 years

Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine, Timaru

10/5377

6 September 1910

Rev. Henry C. Bowers, Roman Catholic

No	837
Date of Notice	6 September 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gaffaney	Bridget Leary
	💍 1910/5144
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	School Teacher
Age	32	24
Dwelling Place	Seadown	Hilrow
Length of Residence	32 years	24 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine, Timaru
Folio	10/5377
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 September 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry C. Bowers, Roman Catholic

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).