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 275

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 December 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

100

5 October 1910

Ernest George Preen
Helen Welsh Stewart

Ernest George Preen
Helen Welsh Stewart
💍 1910/7402

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
Household duties

34
30

Timaru
Timaru

6 years
20 years

Res. A Macaulay Caldwell's house, Harper St. Timaru

10/7752

5 October 1910

Rev. A Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	100
Date of Notice	5 October 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest George Preen	Helen Welsh Stewart
	💍 1910/7402
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	Household duties
Age	34	30
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Res. A Macaulay Caldwell's house, Harper St. Timaru
Folio	10/7752
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 October 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. A Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

101

8 October 1910

John Ramage
Helen Ann McLean

John Ramage
Helen Ann McLean
💍 1910/7403

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Shop assistant

23
22

Timaru
Timaru

4 months
9 months

Dwellinghouse of Mrs B. McLean, Raymond St, Timaru

10/7753

8 October 1910

Rev. A Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	101
Date of Notice	8 October 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Ramage	Helen Ann McLean
	💍 1910/7403
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Shop assistant
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 months	9 months
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mrs B. McLean, Raymond St, Timaru
Folio	10/7753
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. A Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

102

11 October 1910

Alfred Edward Templeton
Evelyn Rosia Lawry

Alfred Edward Templeton
Evelyn Rosina Lawry
💍 1910/7390

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Dressmaker

22
22

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
14 years

St. Mary's English Church, Timaru

10/7741

11 October 1910

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

No	102
Date of Notice	11 October 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Edward Templeton	Evelyn Rosia Lawry
BDM Match (97%)	Alfred Edward Templeton	Evelyn Rosina Lawry
	💍 1910/7390
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Dressmaker
Age	22	22
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	14 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	10/7741
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 October 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. F. Adams, Church of England Clergyman

103

11 October 1910

Patrick Francis Cosgrove
Kathleen Barry

Patrick Francis Cosgrove
Kathleen Barry
💍 1910/7946

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Servant

26
30

Timaru
Timaru

5 weeks
4 weeks

Roman Catholic Schoolhouse, Timaru

10/8306

11 October 1910

Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	103
Date of Notice	11 October 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Francis Cosgrove	Kathleen Barry
	💍 1910/7946
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Servant
Age	26	30
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 weeks	4 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Schoolhouse, Timaru
Folio	10/8306
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 October 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

104

14 October 1910

Preston Stevens
Amelia Gilbert

Preston Stevens
Amelia Gilbert
💍 1910/7389

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

20
19

Timaru
Timaru

20 years
19

Dwellinghouse of Rev J. Olphert, Arthur St, Timaru

10/7740

Wm Stevens (Father)

28 October 1910

Rev. J. Olphert, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	104
Date of Notice	14 October 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Preston Stevens	Amelia Gilbert
	💍 1910/7389
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	20	19
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	20 years	19
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Rev J. Olphert, Arthur St, Timaru
Folio	10/7740
Consent	Wm Stevens (Father)
Date of Certificate	28 October 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Olphert, Primitive Methodist Minister

105

15 October 1910

Sydney Lance Bennetts
Louie Thomasina Wareham

Sydney Lance Bennetts
Louie Thomasina Markham
💍 1910/7404

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic Servant

25
24

Belfield Hill, Timaru
Timaru

5 weeks
5 years

Dwellinghouse of Rev. A Macaulay Caldwell, Harper St, Timaru

10/7754

15 October 1910

Rev. A Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	105
Date of Notice	15 October 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Lance Bennetts	Louie Thomasina Wareham
BDM Match (96%)	Sydney Lance Bennetts	Louie Thomasina Markham
	💍 1910/7404
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Servant
Age	25	24
Dwelling Place	Belfield Hill, Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 weeks	5 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Rev. A Macaulay Caldwell, Harper St, Timaru
Folio	10/7754
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. A Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

106

15 October 1910

Frederick William Scarf
Ethel Harriet Brasell

Frederick William Scarf
Ethel Harriet Brasell
💍 1910/7392

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

22
25

Timaru
Timaru

22 years
25

St Mary's English Church, Timaru

10/7743

15 October 1910

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

No	106
Date of Notice	15 October 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick William Scarf	Ethel Harriet Brasell
	💍 1910/7392
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	22 years	25
Marriage Place	St Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	10/7743
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 October 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. F. Adams, Church of England Clergyman

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).