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 840

District of Wyndham Quarter ending 31 March 1910 Registrar Wm Stephenson

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

5 January 1910

William Percy Bowrott
Mabel Blackler

William Percy Bowcott
Mabel Blackley
💍 1910/1727

Bachelor
Spinster

Coachbuilder
Domestic

24
18

Wyndham
Wyndham

2½ years
15 years

The residence of Mr. Mary Francis, Wyndham

10/1908

Mary Francis, mother

5 January 1910

Rev. D. Rankin, Wyndham

No	1
Date of Notice	5 January 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Percy Bowrott	Mabel Blackler
BDM Match (94%)	William Percy Bowcott	Mabel Blackley
	💍 1910/1727
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coachbuilder	Domestic
Age	24	18
Dwelling Place	Wyndham	Wyndham
Length of Residence	2½ years	15 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. Mary Francis, Wyndham
Folio	10/1908
Consent	Mary Francis, mother
Date of Certificate	5 January 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Rankin, Wyndham

21 February 1910

David Warwick Sawers
Agnes McKay Cranstown

David Warwick Sawers McQueen
Agnes McKay Cranstoun
💍 1910/1732

Bachelor
Spinster

Cheesemaker
Domestic

32
19

Edendale
Edendale

2 years
always

The residence of Mr. Alex Cranston, Edendale

10/1912

Alexander Cranston, father

21 February 1910

Rev. D. McHennan, Edendale

No	2
Date of Notice	21 February 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Warwick Sawers	Agnes McKay Cranstown
BDM Match (83%)	David Warwick Sawers McQueen	Agnes McKay Cranstoun
	💍 1910/1732
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cheesemaker	Domestic
Age	32	19
Dwelling Place	Edendale	Edendale
Length of Residence	2 years	always
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. Alex Cranston, Edendale
Folio	10/1912
Consent	Alexander Cranston, father
Date of Certificate	21 February 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. McHennan, Edendale

7 March 1910

William Aim
Christine Cameron MN Beange

William Aim
Christina Cameron
💍 1910/1728

Widower
Divorced

Farmer
Domestic

40
41

Mataura Island
Wyndham

15 years
always

The residence of Mr. Alex Beange, Wyndham

10/1909

7 March 1910

Rev. A. Sanfiter, Wyndham

No	3
Date of Notice	7 March 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Aim	Christine Cameron MN Beange
BDM Match (80%)	William Aim	Christina Cameron
	💍 1910/1728
Condition	Widower	Divorced
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	40	41
Dwelling Place	Mataura Island	Wyndham
Length of Residence	15 years	always
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. Alex Beange, Wyndham
Folio	10/1909
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 March 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Sanfiter, Wyndham

16 March 1910

William McDonald
Edith Sarah Botting

William McDonald
Edith Sarah Botting
💍 1910/1729

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic

24
23

Edendale
Edendale

1 year
6 years

The Primitive Methodist Church, Edendale

10/1910

16 March 1910

Rev. H. Daniel, Edendale

No	4
Date of Notice	16 March 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William McDonald	Edith Sarah Botting
	💍 1910/1729
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Edendale	Edendale
Length of Residence	1 year	6 years
Marriage Place	The Primitive Methodist Church, Edendale
Folio	10/1910
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Daniel, Edendale

16 March 1910

Gordon Hutton
Jane Ellen Botting

Gordon Hutton
Jane Ellen Botting
💍 1910/1731

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

22
25

Edendale
Edendale

2 years
6 years

The Primitive Methodist Church, Edendale

10/1911

16 March 1910

Rev. H. Daniel, Edendale

No	5
Date of Notice	16 March 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gordon Hutton	Jane Ellen Botting
	💍 1910/1731
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	22	25
Dwelling Place	Edendale	Edendale
Length of Residence	2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	The Primitive Methodist Church, Edendale
Folio	10/1911
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Daniel, Edendale

31 March 1910

David Cowan Weir
Margaret Jane McHellan

David Cowan Weir
Margaret Jane McLellan
💍 1910/3561

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic

31
19

Mataura Island
Mataura Island

2 years
9 years

The Presbyterian Manse, Edendale

10/3688

William McHellan, father

31 March 1910

Rev. D. McHennan, Edendale

No	6
Date of Notice	31 March 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Cowan Weir	Margaret Jane McHellan
BDM Match (98%)	David Cowan Weir	Margaret Jane McLellan
	💍 1910/3561
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic
Age	31	19
Dwelling Place	Mataura Island	Mataura Island
Length of Residence	2 years	9 years
Marriage Place	The Presbyterian Manse, Edendale
Folio	10/3688
Consent	William McHellan, father
Date of Certificate	31 March 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. McHennan, Edendale

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).