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 269

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 September 1910 Registrar Alex. Armstrong

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

26 July 1910

Charles Edward Dunnill
Ellen Ivy Alice Gabbitt

Charles Edward Dunnill
Ellen Alice Ivy Gobbitt
💍 1910/4728

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Household Duties

23 years
16 years

St. Andrews
St. Andrews

14 years
13 years

Church of England, St. Andrews

10/4895

Alice Jane Morgan (Mother)

26 July 1910

Rev. L. B. Brady, Church of England Clergyman

No	44
Date of Notice	26 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Dunnill	Ellen Ivy Alice Gabbitt
BDM Match (80%)	Charles Edward Dunnill	Ellen Alice Ivy Gobbitt
	💍 1910/4728
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Household Duties
Age	23 years	16 years
Dwelling Place	St. Andrews	St. Andrews
Length of Residence	14 years	13 years
Marriage Place	Church of England, St. Andrews
Folio	10/4895
Consent	Alice Jane Morgan (Mother)
Date of Certificate	26 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. B. Brady, Church of England Clergyman

30 July 1910

Allan Sinclair
Jane Sinclair Barclay

Allan Sinclair
Jane Sinclair Barclay
💍 1910/4898

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Dressmaker

28 years
28 years

Timaru
Timaru

6 years
9 months

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

10/5009

30 July 1910

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	48
Date of Notice	30 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan Sinclair	Jane Sinclair Barclay
	💍 1910/4898
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Dressmaker
Age	28 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 years	9 months
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	10/5009
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

3 August 1910

Victor Earl Johnson
Ruth Lawson Brown

Victor Carl Johnson
Ruth Lawson Brown
💍 1910/8306

Bachelor
Spinster

Hardware Importer
Domestic Duties

24 years
22 years

Timaru
Timaru

6 months
4 days

St. Mary's English Church, Timaru

10/5013

3 August 1910

Rev. S. L. Adams, Church of England Clergyman

No	49
Date of Notice	3 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Victor Earl Johnson	Ruth Lawson Brown
BDM Match (97%)	Victor Carl Johnson	Ruth Lawson Brown
	💍 1910/8306
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hardware Importer	Domestic Duties
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 months	4 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	10/5013
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. S. L. Adams, Church of England Clergyman

26 July 1910

Percy Trethewey Davey
Mabel Victoria Allaw

Bachelor
Spinster

Carrier
Domestic Duties

24 years
29 years

Timaru
Timaru

19 years
2 years

Roman Catholic Schoolhouse, Timaru

10/5006

26 July 1910

Rev. P. J. Smyth, Roman Catholic Priest

No	76
Date of Notice	26 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Percy Trethewey Davey	Mabel Victoria Allaw
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carrier	Domestic Duties
Age	24 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	19 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Schoolhouse, Timaru
Folio	10/5006
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Smyth, Roman Catholic Priest

3 August 1910

Charles Shewan
Catherine Williams

Charles Shewan
Catherine Williams
💍 1910/4853

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Household Duties

24 years
20 years

St. Andrews
Washdyke

5 months
20 years

Roman Catholic Priory, Timaru

10/5042

Edward Williams (Father)

3 August 1910

Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	80
Date of Notice	3 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Shewan	Catherine Williams
	💍 1910/4853
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Household Duties
Age	24 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	St. Andrews	Washdyke
Length of Residence	5 months	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Priory, Timaru
Folio	10/5042
Consent	Edward Williams (Father)
Date of Certificate	3 August 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

4 August 1910

George Edmund Fox
Margaret Violet Bowie

George Edmund Fox
Margaret Violet Bowic
💍 1910/4899

Bachelor
Spinster

Master Mariner
Domestic Duties

28 years
25 years

Non-resident in New Zealand
Timaru

Non-resident in New Zealand
20 years

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

10/5040

4 August 1910

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	81
Date of Notice	4 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edmund Fox	Margaret Violet Bowie
BDM Match (98%)	George Edmund Fox	Margaret Violet Bowic
	💍 1910/4899
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Master Mariner	Domestic Duties
Age	28 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Non-resident in New Zealand	Timaru
Length of Residence	Non-resident in New Zealand	20 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	10/5040
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

8 August 1910

Philip Hinks
Christina Seyb

Philip Hinks
Christina Seyb
💍 1910/4847

Widower
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

38 years
22 years

Timaru
Timaru

6 years
12 months

Dwellinghouse of Mr. J. J. Innis, Wellington St., Timaru

10/5037

8 August 1910

Rev. J. Olphert, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	82
Date of Notice	8 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Philip Hinks	Christina Seyb
	💍 1910/4847
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	38 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 years	12 months
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mr. J. J. Innis, Wellington St., Timaru
Folio	10/5037
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 August 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Olphert, Primitive Methodist Minister

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).