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 170

District of Lyttelton Quarter ending 30 June 1910 Registrar William Dryburgh Wallace

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

28 April 1910

John Henry Williams
Elizabeth Frederick Smith

John Henry Williams
Elizabeth Gredennick
💍 1910/3463

John Clifton Williams
Elizabeth Gwendoline Young
💍 1910/870

Bachelor
Spinster

Brickmaker

31
23

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

3 days
23 years

The Salvation Army Barracks

10/3329

28 April 1910

Brigadier J. E. Albiston (Salvation Army)

No	9
Date of Notice	28 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Williams	Elizabeth Frederick Smith
BDM Match (82%)	John Henry Williams	Elizabeth Gredennick
	💍 1910/3463
BDM Match (60%)	John Clifton Williams	Elizabeth Gwendoline Young
	💍 1910/870
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Brickmaker
Age	31	23
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	The Salvation Army Barracks
Folio	10/3329
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Brigadier J. E. Albiston (Salvation Army)

6 May 1910

William Jeffrey Manson
Ivy Beatrice Thorn Simpson

William Jeffrey Manson
Ivy Beatrice Thorn Simpson
💍 1910/3058

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

25
19

Teddington
Charteris Bay

25 years
17 years

The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Lyttelton

10/3323

Thorn Simpson (Father)

6 May 1910

W. D. Wallace (Registrar)

No	10
Date of Notice	6 May 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Jeffrey Manson	Ivy Beatrice Thorn Simpson
	💍 1910/3058
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	Teddington	Charteris Bay
Length of Residence	25 years	17 years
Marriage Place	The office of the Registrar of Marriages, Lyttelton
Folio	10/3323
Consent	Thorn Simpson (Father)
Date of Certificate	6 May 1910
Officiating Minister	W. D. Wallace (Registrar)

1 June 1910

Michael Ryan
Frances Mabel Bamford

Michael Ryan
Frances Mabel Bamford
💍 1910/3458

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32
20

Governor's Bay
Governor's Bay

3 days
20 years

Roman Catholic Church

10/3323

Daniel Bamford (Father)

1 June 1910

Rev. P. Cooney (Roman Catholic)

No	11
Date of Notice	1 June 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Ryan	Frances Mabel Bamford
	💍 1910/3458
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Governor's Bay	Governor's Bay
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	10/3323
Consent	Daniel Bamford (Father)
Date of Certificate	1 June 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Cooney (Roman Catholic)

1 June 1910

James Norton
Eva Sutton

James Norton
Eva Sutton
💍 1910/3675

Bachelor
Spinster

Seaman
Cook

20
21

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

20 years
5 months

The residence of William Thomas Norton, London St., Lyttelton

10/3797

William Thomas Norton (Father)

1 June 1910

Rev. J. J. Bates (Presbyterian)

No	12
Date of Notice	1 June 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Norton	Eva Sutton
	💍 1910/3675
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Seaman	Cook
Age	20	21
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	20 years	5 months
Marriage Place	The residence of William Thomas Norton, London St., Lyttelton
Folio	10/3797
Consent	William Thomas Norton (Father)
Date of Certificate	1 June 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Bates (Presbyterian)

27 June 1910

William John Fox
Sarah Arbuckle

William John Fox
Sarah Arbuckle
💍 1910/8301

Widower
Spinster

Railway Clerk

48
28

Lyttelton
Lyttelton

6 years
18 months

Roman Catholic Church

10/3324

27 June 1910

Rev. P. Cooney (Roman Catholic)

No	13
Date of Notice	27 June 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Fox	Sarah Arbuckle
	💍 1910/8301
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk
Age	48	28
Dwelling Place	Lyttelton	Lyttelton
Length of Residence	6 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	10/3324
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 June 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Cooney (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).