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 721

District of Otepopo Quarter ending 30 June 1910 Registrar Jas. Fleming

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

324

6 April 1910

James William Minty
Louisa Turnbull

James William Minty
Louisa Turnbull
💍 1910/3424

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer's Assistant
Domestic Duties

33
22

Kakanui
Maheno

3 days
14 days

Residence of Mrs. E. Turnbull

10/3594

6 April 1910

Rev. J. C. Paterson, Presbyterian

No	324
Date of Notice	6 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Minty	Louisa Turnbull
	💍 1910/3424
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer's Assistant	Domestic Duties
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Kakanui	Maheno
Length of Residence	3 days	14 days
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. E. Turnbull
Folio	10/3594
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. C. Paterson, Presbyterian

325

11 April 1910

Joseph Alexander Cook
Jessie Matheson

Joseph Alexander Cook
Jessie Matheson
💍 1910/3465

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

31
29

Kakanui
Kakanui

3 days
29 years

Residence of Mr. K. Matheson

10/3627

11 April 1910

Rev. P. C. Rennie, Presbyterian

No	325
Date of Notice	11 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Alexander Cook	Jessie Matheson
	💍 1910/3465
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	31	29
Dwelling Place	Kakanui	Kakanui
Length of Residence	3 days	29 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. K. Matheson
Folio	10/3627
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. Rennie, Presbyterian

326

15 April 1910

Thomas Hyndman
Maggie Dawson Smith

Thomas Hyndman
Maggie Dawson Smith
💍 1910/3605

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Baker
Typist

31
21

Maheno
Invercargill

2 months
21 years

Presbyterian Church

10/3612

15 April 1910

Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

No	326
Date of Notice	15 April 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Hyndman	Maggie Dawson Smith
	💍 1910/3605
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Baker	Typist
Age	31	21
Dwelling Place	Maheno	Invercargill
Length of Residence	2 months	21 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	10/3612
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. M. Ryburn, Presbyterian

327

2 May 1910

John Spence Taylor
Barbara Groundwater

John Spence Taylor
Barbara Groundwater
💍 1910/3357

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

34
26

Allday Bay
Allday Bay

62 years
4 years

Presbyterian Manse

10/3543

2 May 1910

Rev. P. C. Rennie, Presbyterian

No	327
Date of Notice	2 May 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Spence Taylor	Barbara Groundwater
	💍 1910/3357
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Allday Bay	Allday Bay
Length of Residence	62 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Manse
Folio	10/3543
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 May 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. Rennie, Presbyterian

328

23 May 1910

John Daniel Crisp
Barbara Ellen Morrison

John Daniel Crisp
Barbara Ellen Morrison
💍 1910/3359

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Cadet
Domestic duties

21
21

Otepopo
Otepopo

3 days
21 years

Presbyterian Church

10/3544

23 May 1910

Rev. P. C. Rennie, Presbyterian

No	328
Date of Notice	23 May 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Daniel Crisp	Barbara Ellen Morrison
	💍 1910/3359
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Cadet	Domestic duties
Age	21	21
Dwelling Place	Otepopo	Otepopo
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	10/3544
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. Rennie, Presbyterian

329

7 June 1910

Archie Budgen
Edith Margaret Dixon

Archie Budgen
Edith Margaret Dixon
💍 1910/3348

Bachelor
Spinster (Minor)

Labourer
Domestic duties

27
20

Maheno
Maheno

24 years
20 years

Office of Registrar

10/3534

6 June 1910

Jas. Fleming, Registrar

No	329
Date of Notice	7 June 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archie Budgen	Edith Margaret Dixon
	💍 1910/3348
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster (Minor)
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Maheno	Maheno
Length of Residence	24 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar
Folio	10/3534
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 June 1910
Officiating Minister	Jas. Fleming, Registrar

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).