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 432

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 1910 Registrar Henry Maxwell

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

322

1 July 1910

William James Love
Ada Jarvis

William James Lawe
Ada Jarvis
💍 1910/4976

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman

34 years
31 years

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

3 days
31 years

In St Peters Church, Caversham

10/5149

1 July 1910

B. M. King

No	322
Date of Notice	1 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Love	Ada Jarvis
BDM Match (94%)	William James Lawe	Ada Jarvis
	💍 1910/4976
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman
Age	34 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	31 years
Marriage Place	In St Peters Church, Caversham
Folio	10/5149
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1910
Officiating Minister	B. M. King

323

1 July 1910

Henry William Oben
Johanna Curran

Henry William Oben
Johanna Curran
💍 1910/5384

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

33 years
33 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 month
2 months

In St Josephs Cathedral, Dunedin

10/5636

1 July 1910

Jas. Coffey

No	323
Date of Notice	1 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry William Oben	Johanna Curran
	💍 1910/5384
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	33 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 month	2 months
Marriage Place	In St Josephs Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	10/5636
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Jas. Coffey

324

1 July 1910

William James Winefield
Nellie Adeline Robertson

William James Winefield
Nellie Adaline Robertson
💍 1910/5329

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

21 years
18 years

Caversham
Dunedin

5 years
18 years

In the Manse, Church Manse, Dunedin

10/5623

Margaret Bell Robertson, Mother

1 July 1910

R. E. Davies

No	324
Date of Notice	1 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Winefield	Nellie Adeline Robertson
BDM Match (98%)	William James Winefield	Nellie Adaline Robertson
	💍 1910/5329
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	21 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 years	18 years
Marriage Place	In the Manse, Church Manse, Dunedin
Folio	10/5623
Consent	Margaret Bell Robertson, Mother
Date of Certificate	1 July 1910
Officiating Minister	R. E. Davies

325

1 July 1910

Alexander Duncan Thomson Watt
Ruby Grace Hitchen McEwan

Alexander Duncan Thomson Watt
Ruby Grace Hitchen McEwan
💍 1910/112

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

28 years
21 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 years
6 months

In the house of Mr. S. Adkins, Marion Street, Caversham

10/5892

1 July 1910

D. Dutton

No	325
Date of Notice	1 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Duncan Thomson Watt	Ruby Grace Hitchen McEwan
	💍 1910/112
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	28 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	6 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. S. Adkins, Marion Street, Caversham
Folio	10/5892
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1910
Officiating Minister	D. Dutton

326

1 July 1910

Adam Hawkins McDougall
Jessie Shields Samson

Adam Hawkins McDougall
Jessie Shields Samson
💍 1910/5056

Bachelor
Spinster

Loom Tuner

21 years
27 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

18 months
27 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

10/5234

1 July 1910

H. Maxwell

No	326
Date of Notice	1 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Adam Hawkins McDougall	Jessie Shields Samson
	💍 1910/5056
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Loom Tuner
Age	21 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	18 months	27 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	10/5234
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 July 1910
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

327

4 July 1910

Frederick James Strain Martin
Margaret Ann Macdonald

Frederick James Strain Martin
Margaret Ann Macdonald
💍 1910/5036

Bachelor
Widow

Baker

29 years
36 years

Dunedin
Lawrence

1 week
36 years

In the First Church, Dunedin

10/5214

4 July 1910

Scott Allan

No	327
Date of Notice	4 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick James Strain Martin	Margaret Ann Macdonald
	💍 1910/5036
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Baker
Age	29 years	36 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Lawrence
Length of Residence	1 week	36 years
Marriage Place	In the First Church, Dunedin
Folio	10/5214
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Scott Allan

328

4 July 1910

Francis William Hodgins
Rachel Grace Lawer

Francis William Hodgins
Rachel Grace Lawer
💍 1910/5057

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24 years
18 years

Caversham
Caversham

1 month
3 days

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

10/5238

Richard Lawer, Father

4 July 1910

H. Maxwell

No	328
Date of Notice	4 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis William Hodgins	Rachel Grace Lawer
	💍 1910/5057
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	1 month	3 days
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	10/5238
Consent	Richard Lawer, Father
Date of Certificate	4 July 1910
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

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).