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 448

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

427

31 August 1910

James Arthur Davis
Helen Christina Topping

James Arthur Davis
Helen Christina Topping
💍 1910/5052

Bachelor
Spinster

Cook

24
18

Dunedin
North East Valley

4 years
6 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

10/5255

Margaret Campbell, Guardian

31 August 1910

H. Maxwell

No	427
Date of Notice	31 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Arthur Davis	Helen Christina Topping
	💍 1910/5052
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cook
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	North East Valley
Length of Residence	4 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	10/5255
Consent	Margaret Campbell, Guardian
Date of Certificate	31 August 1910
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

428

2 September 1910

Michael Alexander Finney
Ellen Rosena Tomkins

Michael Alexander Kinney
Ellen Rosena Tomkins
💍 1910/5018

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30
29

Hyde
Basilica, South Dunedin

3 years
30 years

St. Patrick's, Hyde

10/5220

2 September 1910

Jas. Lynch

No	428
Date of Notice	2 September 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Alexander Finney	Ellen Rosena Tomkins
BDM Match (98%)	Michael Alexander Kinney	Ellen Rosena Tomkins
	💍 1910/5018
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30	29
Dwelling Place	Hyde	Basilica, South Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's, Hyde
Folio	10/5220
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1910
Officiating Minister	Jas. Lynch

429

2 September 1910

Arthur William Chapman
Helen Finlay Braid

Arthur William Chapman
Helen Findlay Braid
💍 1910/5026

Bachelor
Widow

Bricklayer

28
30

Caversham
Caversham

5 years
4 years

In the house of the Rev. W. Slade, Fernhill Street, Dunedin

10/5224

2 September 1910

W. Slade

No	429
Date of Notice	2 September 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur William Chapman	Helen Finlay Braid
BDM Match (97%)	Arthur William Chapman	Helen Findlay Braid
	💍 1910/5026
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Bricklayer
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	5 years	4 years
Marriage Place	In the house of the Rev. W. Slade, Fernhill Street, Dunedin
Folio	10/5224
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1910
Officiating Minister	W. Slade

430

5 September 1910

William Smith
Minnie Hansen

William Smith
Minnie Hansen
💍 1910/5053

Bachelor
Spinster

Photographer

32
23

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 days
3 days

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

10/5256

5 September 1910

H. Maxwell

No	430
Date of Notice	5 September 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Smith	Minnie Hansen
	💍 1910/5053
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Photographer
Age	32	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	10/5256
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1910
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

431

5 September 1910

James Boyd Gilmour
Christina Muriel Park

James Boyd Gilmour
Christina Muriel Park
💍 1910/5754

Bachelor
Spinster

Accountant

27
20

Dunedin
Dunedin

27 years
10 years

In the house of Mr. J. A. Park, 33 Manor Place, Dunedin

10/5937

5 September 1910

R. Waddell

No	431
Date of Notice	5 September 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Boyd Gilmour	Christina Muriel Park
	💍 1910/5754
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Accountant
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	27 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. J. A. Park, 33 Manor Place, Dunedin
Folio	10/5937
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1910
Officiating Minister	R. Waddell

432

5 September 1910

Alfred Thompson
Margaret Fraser

Alfred Thompson
Margaret Fraser
💍 1910/5054

Bachelor
Spinster

Fireman

22
21

Dunedin
South Dunedin

3 days
7 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

10/5257

5 September 1910

H. Maxwell

No	432
Date of Notice	5 September 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Thompson	Margaret Fraser
	💍 1910/5054
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fireman
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	10/5257
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 September 1910
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).