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 838

District of Winton Quarter ending 31 December 1910 Registrar I. G. Russell

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

22 October 1910

John Alexander Stewart
Annie Sterling

John Alexander Stewart
Annie Stirling
💍 1910/7607

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer
Domestic duties

34
28

Limehills
Otapiei

5 years
18 months

Residence of Mr Robert Jamieson, Winton

10/8013

22 October 1910

Rev R. Mackie, Presbyterian

No	90
Date of Notice	22 October 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Alexander Stewart	Annie Sterling
BDM Match (96%)	John Alexander Stewart	Annie Stirling
	💍 1910/7607
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer	Domestic duties
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Limehills	Otapiei
Length of Residence	5 years	18 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr Robert Jamieson, Winton
Folio	10/8013
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev R. Mackie, Presbyterian

22 October 1910

Charlie Sounders
Louisa Lokan

Charlie Saunders
Louisa Lokan
💍 1910/7609

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

29
24

Benmore
Fernhill

29 years
4 years

The Presbyterian Church, Fernhill

10/8014

22 October 1910

Rev J. Davie, Presbyterian

No	91
Date of Notice	22 October 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charlie Sounders	Louisa Lokan
BDM Match (97%)	Charlie Saunders	Louisa Lokan
	💍 1910/7609
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	29	24
Dwelling Place	Benmore	Fernhill
Length of Residence	29 years	4 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Church, Fernhill
Folio	10/8014
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 October 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev J. Davie, Presbyterian

31 October 1910

Francis Kerr
Elizabeth Josephine Looney

Francis Kerr
Elizabeth Josephine Looney
💍 1910/7611

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic duties

29
25

Forest Hill
South Hillend

3 days
3 weeks

House of Mr John Looney, South Hillend

10/8016

31 October 1910

Rev P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

No	92
Date of Notice	31 October 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Kerr	Elizabeth Josephine Looney
	💍 1910/7611
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic duties
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Forest Hill	South Hillend
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	House of Mr John Looney, South Hillend
Folio	10/8016
Consent
Date of Certificate	31 October 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

1 November 1910

Thomas Walker Ritchie
Elizabeth Simpson Ritchie

Thomas Walker
Elizabeth Simpson Ritchie
💍 1910/7613

Bachelor
Spinster

Chemist
Domestic duties

24
25

Winton
Winton

4 years
3 years

House of Mr Thomas Ritchie, Winton

10/7018

1 November 1910

Rev R. Mackie, Presbyterian

No	93
Date of Notice	1 November 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Walker Ritchie	Elizabeth Simpson Ritchie
BDM Match (81%)	Thomas Walker	Elizabeth Simpson Ritchie
	💍 1910/7613
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Chemist	Domestic duties
Age	24	25
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	4 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Thomas Ritchie, Winton
Folio	10/7018
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev R. Mackie, Presbyterian

18 November 1910

John Thomas King
Henrietta Thomasina Walker

John Thomas King
Henrietta Thomasina Walker
💍 1910/7612

Widower
Spinster

Railway ganger
Domestic duties

48
39

Hokonui
Hokonui

3 years
15 months

Roman Catholic Church, Winton

10/8017

18 November 1910

Rev P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

No	94
Date of Notice	18 November 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Thomas King	Henrietta Thomasina Walker
	💍 1910/7612
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Railway ganger	Domestic duties
Age	48	39
Dwelling Place	Hokonui	Hokonui
Length of Residence	3 years	15 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Winton
Folio	10/8017
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 November 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

22 December 1910

James Gill
Mary Jane Ord

James Gill
Mary Jane Ord
💍 1910/7610

Widower
Spinster

Sawmill hand
Domestic duties

33
29

Ord's Crossing
Winton

33 years
20 years

House of Mr Archibald Ord, Winton

10/8015

22 December 1910

Rev R. Mackie, Presbyterian

No	95
Date of Notice	22 December 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gill	Mary Jane Ord
	💍 1910/7610
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill hand	Domestic duties
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Ord's Crossing	Winton
Length of Residence	33 years	20 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Archibald Ord, Winton
Folio	10/8015
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 December 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev R. Mackie, 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).