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 268

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 September 1910 Registrar Alexander Montgomery

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

1 July 1910

James Jeyes Moore
Elizabeth Brown

James Jeyes Moore
Elizabeth Brown
💍 1910/4821

Samuel Woodward
Elizabeth Brown
💍 1910/6843

Bachelor
Spinster

Upholsterer
Domestic Duties

22
21

Timaru
Waimataitai

22 years
21 years

Dwellinghouse of Mr. John Brown, Waimataitai, Timaru

10/5010

1 July 1910

Rev. S. Buchanan, Independent Free Church Minister

No	69
Date of Notice	1 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Jeyes Moore	Elizabeth Brown
	💍 1910/4821
BDM Match (62%)	Samuel Woodward	Elizabeth Brown
	💍 1910/6843
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Upholsterer	Domestic Duties
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Waimataitai
Length of Residence	22 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mr. John Brown, Waimataitai, Timaru
Folio	10/5010
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Buchanan, Independent Free Church Minister

2 July 1910

William Henry Hawke
Ethel Elizabeth Baumann

William Henry Hawke
Ethel Elizabeth Naumann
💍 1910/4886

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Duties

24
24

Salisbury
Timaru

8 years
1 week

Trinity Presbyterian Church, Timaru

10/4837

2 July 1910

Rev. Y. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	70
Date of Notice	2 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Hawke	Ethel Elizabeth Baumann
BDM Match (98%)	William Henry Hawke	Ethel Elizabeth Naumann
	💍 1910/4886
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Salisbury	Timaru
Length of Residence	8 years	1 week
Marriage Place	Trinity Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	10/4837
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Y. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

4 July 1910

Thomas James Atherton
Isabella Ellison Deans

Thomas James Atherton
Isabella Ellison Deans
💍 1910/4887

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Household Duties

25
24

Timaru
Timaru

15 months
13 months

Residence of Rev. Y. Stinson, Timaru

10/4838

John Deans, Father

4 July 1910

Rev. Y. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	71
Date of Notice	4 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas James Atherton	Isabella Ellison Deans
	💍 1910/4887
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Household Duties
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	15 months	13 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Rev. Y. Stinson, Timaru
Folio	10/4838
Consent	John Deans, Father
Date of Certificate	4 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Y. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

12 July 1910

Alfred Gilbert Whalley
Frances Mary Palmer

Alfred Gilbert Whalley
Frances Mary Palmer
💍 1910/4888

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Household Duties

34
23

Timaru
Timaru

11 days
10 months

Dwellinghouse of Mr. Frank Thompson, Catherine St., Timaru

10/4839

12 July 1910

Rev. Y. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	72
Date of Notice	12 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Gilbert Whalley	Frances Mary Palmer
	💍 1910/4888
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Household Duties
Age	34	23
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	11 days	10 months
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mr. Frank Thompson, Catherine St., Timaru
Folio	10/4839
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. Y. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

12 July 1910

William Percy Dibbs
Ruth Verity Sealy

William Percy D'Ewes Barber
Ruth Verity Sealy
💍 1910/4823

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household Duties

24
26

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
4 years

St. Mary's English Church, Timaru

10/5012

12 July 1910

Rev. S. Y. Adams, Church of England Clergyman

No	73
Date of Notice	12 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Percy Dibbs	Ruth Verity Sealy
BDM Match (80%)	William Percy D'Ewes Barber	Ruth Verity Sealy
	💍 1910/4823
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household Duties
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	10/5012
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. Y. Adams, Church of England Clergyman

21 July 1910

Frederick Charles Leonard Verdon
Pauline Nesbitt

Frederick Charles Leonard Verdon
Paulina Nesbitt
💍 1910/5918

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

29
22

Timaru
Timaru

25 years
22 years

Dwellinghouse of Mrs. P. Nesbitt, Brown St., Timaru

10/5542

21 July 1910

Rev. A. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

No	74
Date of Notice	21 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Charles Leonard Verdon	Pauline Nesbitt
BDM Match (97%)	Frederick Charles Leonard Verdon	Paulina Nesbitt
	💍 1910/5918
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	25 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mrs. P. Nesbitt, Brown St., Timaru
Folio	10/5542
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

23 July 1910

Stephen Dellow
Jeanie Mills

Stephen Dellow
Leannie Mills
💍 1910/4738

Bachelor
Spinster

Pastry Cook & Confectioner
Domestic Duties

23
22

Timaru
Timaru

23 years
22 years

Wesleyan Church, Timaru

10/4931

23 July 1910

Rev. D. Baumber, Wesleyan Minister

No	75
Date of Notice	23 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stephen Dellow	Jeanie Mills
BDM Match (92%)	Stephen Dellow	Leannie Mills
	💍 1910/4738
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pastry Cook & Confectioner	Domestic Duties
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	23 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Timaru
Folio	10/4931
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Baumber, Wesleyan Minister

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).