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 020

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 September 1910 Registrar W W White

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

496

29 July 1910

Francis Dill Morrow
Ivy Jean Kent

Francis Dill Morrow
Jennie Kent
💍 1910/3799

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
domestic duties

27
25

Ashburton
Auckland

50 years
1 week

Knox Church Auckland

10/3973

29 July 1910

Rev. J. M. Simpson, M.A.

No	496
Date of Notice	29 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Dill Morrow	Ivy Jean Kent
BDM Match (73%)	Francis Dill Morrow	Jennie Kent
	💍 1910/3799
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	domestic duties
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Auckland
Length of Residence	50 years	1 week
Marriage Place	Knox Church Auckland
Folio	10/3973
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. M. Simpson, M.A.

497

30 July 1910

Richard Clemens
Letitia Bryant

Richard Clemens
Letitia Bryant
💍 1910/4716

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

29
26

Newlands
Newlands

9 months
9 months

Baring Square Church Ashburton

10/4884

30 July 1910

Rev. H. E. Bellhouse

No	497
Date of Notice	30 July 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Clemens	Letitia Bryant
	💍 1910/4716
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	29	26
Dwelling Place	Newlands	Newlands
Length of Residence	9 months	9 months
Marriage Place	Baring Square Church Ashburton
Folio	10/4884
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. E. Bellhouse

498

10 August 1910

Frederic Henry Wade
Catherine Porter

Frederic Henry Wade
Catherine Porter
💍 1910/5533

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Teacher

35
30

Gore
Netherby

3 days
30 years

St. Stephen's Church of England

10/5841

10 August 1910

Rev. E. Whitehouse

No	498
Date of Notice	10 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederic Henry Wade	Catherine Porter
	💍 1910/5533
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Teacher
Age	35	30
Dwelling Place	Gore	Netherby
Length of Residence	3 days	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephen's Church of England
Folio	10/5841
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 August 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Whitehouse

499

13 August 1910

William Park
Elizabeth Ellen Andrews

William Park
Elizabeth Ellen Andrews
💍 1910/4760

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
domestic duties

28
25

Longbeach
Longbeach

6 years
6 years

at the dwelling of J. H. Andrews

10/4929

13 August 1910

Rev. J. A. Brown

No	499
Date of Notice	13 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Park	Elizabeth Ellen Andrews
	💍 1910/4760
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	domestic duties
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Longbeach	Longbeach
Length of Residence	6 years	6 years
Marriage Place	at the dwelling of J. H. Andrews
Folio	10/4929
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 August 1910
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Brown

500

20 August 1910

James Hill
Zella Frances McLauchlan

James Hill
Zella Frances McLauchlan
💍 1910/6068

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

33
30

Maronan
Tinwald

5 months
30 years

Roman Catholic Presbytery Ashburton

10/6167

John McLauchlan, father of minor

20 August 1910

Dean O'Donnell

No	500
Date of Notice	20 August 1910
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Hill	Zella Frances McLauchlan
	💍 1910/6068
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	33	30
Dwelling Place	Maronan	Tinwald
Length of Residence	5 months	30 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Presbytery Ashburton
Folio	10/6167
Consent	John McLauchlan, father of minor
Date of Certificate	20 August 1910
Officiating Minister	Dean O'Donnell

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).