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 441

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 1910

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

382

5 August 1910

George Alexander Johnstone Macdonald
Mary Catherine Henderson

George Alexander Johnstone Macdonald
Mary Catherine Henderson
💍 1910/5108

Bachelor
Spinster

Clergyman

23
27

Caversham
Caversham

3 days
5 months

In the house of Mr. R. A. M. Lintock, 5 Leckhampton Court, Caversham

10/5283

5 August 1910

I. C. Jamieson

No	382
Date of Notice	5 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Alexander Johnstone Macdonald	Mary Catherine Henderson
	💍 1910/5108
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clergyman
Age	23	27
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	3 days	5 months
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. R. A. M. Lintock, 5 Leckhampton Court, Caversham
Folio	10/5283
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1910
Officiating Minister	I. C. Jamieson

383

5 August 1910

George Wilson
Bella Freeman

George Wilson
Bella Freeman
💍 1910/5254

Bachelor
Spinster

Canvasser

23
30

Dunedin
Roslyn

9 weeks
30 years

In the Tabernacle, Great King Street, Dunedin

10/5486

5 August 1910

W. I. Hastie

No	383
Date of Notice	5 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Wilson	Bella Freeman
	💍 1910/5254
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Canvasser
Age	23	30
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Roslyn
Length of Residence	9 weeks	30 years
Marriage Place	In the Tabernacle, Great King Street, Dunedin
Folio	10/5486
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 August 1910
Officiating Minister	W. I. Hastie

384

6 August 1910

William Young
Jeanette Calder

William Young
Jeannette Calder
💍 1910/5334

Bachelor
Spinster

Jeweller

31
31

Dunedin
Roslyn

16 years
31 years

In the house of Mr. George Calder, 21 Michie Street, Roslyn

10/5628

6 August 1910

R. E. Davies

No	384
Date of Notice	6 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Young	Jeanette Calder
BDM Match (97%)	William Young	Jeannette Calder
	💍 1910/5334
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jeweller
Age	31	31
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Roslyn
Length of Residence	16 years	31 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. George Calder, 21 Michie Street, Roslyn
Folio	10/5628
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 August 1910
Officiating Minister	R. E. Davies

385

9 August 1910

John Chamberlain Berry
Margaret Isabella Johnston

John Chamberlain Berry
Margaret Isabella Johnston
💍 1910/5255

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
23

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
12 years

In the house of Mr. Joseph C. Coghlan, 9 York Place, Dunedin

10/5487

9 August 1910

Wm. I. Hastie

No	385
Date of Notice	9 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Chamberlain Berry	Margaret Isabella Johnston
	💍 1910/5255
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	12 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. Joseph C. Coghlan, 9 York Place, Dunedin
Folio	10/5487
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1910
Officiating Minister	Wm. I. Hastie

386

9 August 1910

Frederick James Page
Lily Frances Toogood

Frederick James Page
Lily Frances Toogood
💍 1910/5044

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

29
27

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

1 year
7 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

10/5248

9 August 1910

H. Maxwell

No	386
Date of Notice	9 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick James Page	Lily Frances Toogood
	💍 1910/5044
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 year	7 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	10/5248
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1910
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

387

10 August 1910

Hugh Andrew McLeod
Susannah Elizabeth Dowland

Hugh Andrew McLeod
Susannah Elizabeth Dowland
💍 1910/4986

Bachelor
Spinster

Marine Officer

34
28

Caversham
South Dunedin

3 days
2 months

In the Methodist Church, Wesley Street, South Dunedin

10/5136

10 August 1910

D. I. Murray

No	387
Date of Notice	10 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Andrew McLeod	Susannah Elizabeth Dowland
	💍 1910/4986
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Marine Officer
Age	34	28
Dwelling Place	Caversham	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	2 months
Marriage Place	In the Methodist Church, Wesley Street, South Dunedin
Folio	10/5136
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1910
Officiating Minister	D. I. Murray

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).