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 524

District of Gabriels Quarter ending 30 September 1910 Registrar Alexander Millar

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

241

4 July 1910

Frederick James Strain Martin
Margaret Ann Macdonald

Frederick James Strain Martin
Margaret Ann Macdonald
💍 1910/5036

Bachelor
Widow

Baker

29
36

Dunedin
Lawrence

3 days
36 years Dunedin

First Church, Dunedin

10/5214

4 July 1910

Rev. R. Scott Allan (Presbyterian)

No	241
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	36
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Lawrence
Length of Residence	3 days	36 years Dunedin
Marriage Place	First Church, Dunedin
Folio	10/5214
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Scott Allan (Presbyterian)

242

7 July 1910

George Malcolm McCallum
Helen Cousins

George Malcolm McCallum
Helen Cousin
💍 1910/5005

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Servant

30
20

Blue Spur
Blue Spur

3 days
20 years Blue Spur

House of Wm. Simpson

10/5179

John Cousins, father

7 July 1910

Rev. W. G. Oxbrow (Methodist)

No	242
Date of Notice	7 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Malcolm McCallum	Helen Cousins
BDM Match (96%)	George Malcolm McCallum	Helen Cousin
	💍 1910/5005
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Servant
Age	30	20
Dwelling Place	Blue Spur	Blue Spur
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years Blue Spur
Marriage Place	House of Wm. Simpson
Folio	10/5179
Consent	John Cousins, father
Date of Certificate	7 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. G. Oxbrow (Methodist)

243

16 August 1910

James Henry Smith
Elizabeth Anna Stringer

James Henry Smith
Elizabeth Anna Stringer
💍 1910/5037

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic Servant

29
16

Lawrence
Lawrence

2 months
2 months

House of Wm. Rattray, Wetherstones

10/5215

James Stringer, father

16 August 1910

Rev. R. Scott Allan (Presbyterian)

No	243
Date of Notice	16 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Smith	Elizabeth Anna Stringer
	💍 1910/5037
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic Servant
Age	29	16
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Lawrence
Length of Residence	2 months	2 months
Marriage Place	House of Wm. Rattray, Wetherstones
Folio	10/5215
Consent	James Stringer, father
Date of Certificate	16 August 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Scott Allan (Presbyterian)

244

14 September 1910

John Hall
Elizabeth Jane Tracey

John Hall
Elizabeth Jane Treacy
💍 1910/5253

Bachelor
Spinster

Newsagent
Duties

36
24

Evans Flat
Evans Flat

3 days
1 week

Roman Catholic Church, Lawrence

10/5455

14 September 1910

Rev. P. O'Leary (Roman Catholic)

No	244
Date of Notice	14 September 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Hall	Elizabeth Jane Tracey
BDM Match (95%)	John Hall	Elizabeth Jane Treacy
	💍 1910/5253
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Newsagent	Duties
Age	36	24
Dwelling Place	Evans Flat	Evans Flat
Length of Residence	3 days	1 week
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Lawrence
Folio	10/5455
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 September 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Leary (Roman Catholic)

245

17 September 1910

Sydney Herbert Willis
Jessie Nicol Black

Sydney Herbert Willis
Jessie Nicol Black
💍 1910/5015

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist
Clerk

30
28

Lawrence
Lawrence

3 days
2 weeks

Presbyterian Church, Lawrence

10/5216

17 September 1910

Rev. R. Scott Allan (Presbyterian)

No	245
Date of Notice	17 September 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sydney Herbert Willis	Jessie Nicol Black
	💍 1910/5015
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist	Clerk
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Lawrence
Length of Residence	3 days	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Lawrence
Folio	10/5216
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 September 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Scott Allan (Presbyterian)

246

28 September 1910

James Stephen Hill
Jessie French

James Stephen Hill
Jessie French
💍 1910/5016

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Dressmaker

25
27

Clarks Flat
Clarks Flat

3 days
27 years Clarks Flat

House of Samuel French

10/5217

28 September 1910

Rev. R. Scott Allan (Presbyterian)

No	246
Date of Notice	28 September 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Stephen Hill	Jessie French
	💍 1910/5016
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	25	27
Dwelling Place	Clarks Flat	Clarks Flat
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years Clarks Flat
Marriage Place	House of Samuel French
Folio	10/5217
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 September 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Scott Allan (Presbyterian)

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).