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 758

District of Riverton Quarter ending 31 December 1910 Registrar David Pass Phillips

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

827

11 October 1910

James Hy. Alexander
Esther Brown

James Henry Alexander
Esther Brown
💍 1910/7567

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

26
20

Otautau
Colac Bay

3 days
6 years

Presbyterian Church

10/7947

James Brown, father

11 October 1910

Rev. R. Morgan

No	827
Date of Notice	11 October 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hy. Alexander	Esther Brown
BDM Match (91%)	James Henry Alexander	Esther Brown
	💍 1910/7567
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Otautau	Colac Bay
Length of Residence	3 days	6 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church
Folio	10/7947
Consent	James Brown, father
Date of Certificate	11 October 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Morgan

828

12 October 1910

Gregor Owen Grant
Margaret Elizabeth Hancock

Grigor Owen Grant
Margaret Elizabeth Hancock
💍 1910/7910

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Domestic Duties

24
27

Dunedin
Riverton

3 days
7 years

Church of England, Riverton

10/8325

12 October 1910

Rev. J. Morland

No	828
Date of Notice	12 October 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gregor Owen Grant	Margaret Elizabeth Hancock
BDM Match (97%)	Grigor Owen Grant	Margaret Elizabeth Hancock
	💍 1910/7910
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Domestic Duties
Age	24	27
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Riverton
Length of Residence	3 days	7 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Riverton
Folio	10/8325
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Morland

829

7 November 1910

John Deegan
Jean Clarkson Findlay

John Deegan
Jean Clarkson Findlay
💍 1910/7570

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Duties

34
31

Round Hill
Round Hill

4 years
1 month

Roman Catholic Church, Riverton

10/7950

7 November 1910

Rev. P. Murphy

No	829
Date of Notice	7 November 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Deegan	Jean Clarkson Findlay
	💍 1910/7570
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Duties
Age	34	31
Dwelling Place	Round Hill	Round Hill
Length of Residence	4 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Riverton
Folio	10/7950
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 November 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Murphy

830

20 November 1910

Thomas Andrew Nicholson
Eva Irene Mills

Thomas Andrew Nicholson
Eva Irene Mills
💍 1910/7752

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Domestic Duties

28
27

Riverton
Riverton

3 days
27 years

Church of England, Riverton

10/8139

20 November 1910

Rev. J. Morland

No	830
Date of Notice	20 November 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Andrew Nicholson	Eva Irene Mills
	💍 1910/7752
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Domestic Duties
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Riverton	Riverton
Length of Residence	3 days	27 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, Riverton
Folio	10/8139
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 November 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Morland

831

23 November 1910

John Brooks
Christina Alma White

John Crooks
Christina Alma White
💍 1910/7568

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

48
31

Gummie's Bush
Hired Bush

8 years
21 years

Roman Catholic Church, Riverton

10/7948

23 November 1910

Rev. P. Murphy

No	831
Date of Notice	23 November 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Brooks	Christina Alma White
BDM Match (95%)	John Crooks	Christina Alma White
	💍 1910/7568
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	48	31
Dwelling Place	Gummie's Bush	Hired Bush
Length of Residence	8 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Riverton
Folio	10/7948
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 November 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Murphy

832

28 November 1910

Duncan McKenzie
Sarah Helena Hogan

Duncan McKenzie
Sarah Helena Hogan
💍 1910/7569

Bachelor
Spinster

Tally Clerk
Domestic Duties

46
28

Orepuki
Wreys Bush

3 years
6 weeks

Presbyterian Church, Riverton

10/7949

12 December 1910

Rev. P. Murphy

No	832
Date of Notice	28 November 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Duncan McKenzie	Sarah Helena Hogan
	💍 1910/7569
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tally Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	46	28
Dwelling Place	Orepuki	Wreys Bush
Length of Residence	3 years	6 weeks
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Riverton
Folio	10/7949
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 December 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Murphy

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).