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 394

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1910 Registrar Henry Braswell

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

21 February 1910

William John Davidson
Mary Ann Hilliard

William John Davidson
Mary Ann Hilliard
💍 1910/2017

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

49
44

North East Valley
North East Valley

4 days
4 days

House of Mr John Hilliard, 3 Carr Street, North East Valley

10/1718

21 February 1910

W. G. Hastie

No	70
Date of Notice	21 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Davidson	Mary Ann Hilliard
	💍 1910/2017
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	49	44
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	North East Valley
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	House of Mr John Hilliard, 3 Carr Street, North East Valley
Folio	10/1718
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1910
Officiating Minister	W. G. Hastie

21 February 1910

John Weir Watson
Sarah Oliver McLaren

John Weir Watson
Sarah Oliver McLaren
💍 1910/1660

Bachelor
Spinster

Letter Carrier

31
28

Dunedin
Caversham

12 years
12 years

House of Mr Donald McLaren, 16 Rutherford Street, Caversham

10/1707

21 February 1910

S. Bailey

No	71
Date of Notice	21 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Weir Watson	Sarah Oliver McLaren
	💍 1910/1660
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Letter Carrier
Age	31	28
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Caversham
Length of Residence	12 years	12 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Donald McLaren, 16 Rutherford Street, Caversham
Folio	10/1707
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1910
Officiating Minister	S. Bailey

21 February 1910

William Henry Melton
Janet Brown Melville

William Henry Melton
Janet Brown Melville
💍 1910/5592

Widower
Spinster

Ironmonger

48
38

Dunedin
Caversham

30 years
20 years

House of Mrs Janet Melville, 20 Forbury Road, Caversham

10/5791

21 February 1910

D. Dutton

No	72
Date of Notice	21 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Melton	Janet Brown Melville
	💍 1910/5592
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger
Age	48	38
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Caversham
Length of Residence	30 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs Janet Melville, 20 Forbury Road, Caversham
Folio	10/5791
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1910
Officiating Minister	D. Dutton

21 February 1910

Arthur Wellington White
Isabella Carrick Graham

Arthur Wellington White
Isabella Carrick Graham
💍 1910/1661

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

21
20

Caversham
Caversham

19 years
5 years

House of the Rev S. Bailey, 66 Fitzroy Street, South Dunedin

10/1708

Janet Graham, mother

21 February 1910

S. Bailey

No	73
Date of Notice	21 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Wellington White	Isabella Carrick Graham
	💍 1910/1661
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	21	20
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	19 years	5 years
Marriage Place	House of the Rev S. Bailey, 66 Fitzroy Street, South Dunedin
Folio	10/1708
Consent	Janet Graham, mother
Date of Certificate	21 February 1910
Officiating Minister	S. Bailey

22 February 1910

Charles Edward Horwood
Irene Hollobow

Charles Edward Horwood
Irene Hollobon
💍 1910/1681

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller

27
22

Dunedin
Dunedin

27 years
16 months

St. Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin

10/1649

22 February 1910

H. Parata

No	74
Date of Notice	22 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Horwood	Irene Hollobow
BDM Match (96%)	Charles Edward Horwood	Irene Hollobon
	💍 1910/1681
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller
Age	27	22
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	27 years	16 months
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	10/1649
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1910
Officiating Minister	H. Parata

23 February 1910

James Gerrie
Marion McLeod Sutherland

James Gerrie
Marion McLeod Sutherland
💍 1910/5868

Bachelor
Spinster

Merchant

25
26

Dunedin
Mornington

3 days
4 years

St. Andrew's Church, Dunedin

10/5955

23 February 1910

R. Waddell

No	75
Date of Notice	23 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gerrie	Marion McLeod Sutherland
	💍 1910/5868
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Merchant
Age	25	26
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Mornington
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Dunedin
Folio	10/5955
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1910
Officiating Minister	R. Waddell

25 February 1910

Thomas Thomson
Margaret Ann Butler

Thomas Thomson
Margaret Ann Butler
💍 1910/1626

Bachelor
Spinster

Painter

26
22

Maori Hill
Maori Hill

3 years
22 years

House of Mr G. S. Butler, Leith Valley, Maori Hill

10/1640

25 February 1910

D. Borrie

No	76
Date of Notice	25 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Thomson	Margaret Ann Butler
	💍 1910/1626
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Painter
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Maori Hill	Maori Hill
Length of Residence	3 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr G. S. Butler, Leith Valley, Maori Hill
Folio	10/1640
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1910
Officiating Minister	D. Borrie

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).