Intentions to Marry, 1911 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840447, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1911 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, (1911a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1911b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1911c).

Page 019

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 30 June 1911 Registrar William Winsbury 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

573

13 June 1911

Ernest William Dellow
Lavina Agnes Stokes

Ernest William Mellow
Lavina Agnes Stokes
💍 1911/6147

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

55
22

Westerfield
Greenstreet

1 month
22 years

Wesleyan Church, Greenstreet

11/6088

13 June 1911

Rev. W. J. Elliott

No	573
Date of Notice	13 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest William Dellow	Lavina Agnes Stokes
BDM Match (98%)	Ernest William Mellow	Lavina Agnes Stokes
	💍 1911/6147
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	55	22
Dwelling Place	Westerfield	Greenstreet
Length of Residence	1 month	22 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Greenstreet
Folio	11/6088
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Elliott

574

14 June 1911

Thomas Guinness
Mary Ann Daly

Thomas McGuinniess
Mary Anne Daly
💍 1911/5100

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

20
24

Lowcliffe
Ashburton

3 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton

11/4954

17 June 1911

Dean O'Donnell

No	574
Date of Notice	14 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Guinness	Mary Ann Daly
BDM Match (88%)	Thomas McGuinniess	Mary Anne Daly
	💍 1911/5100
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	20	24
Dwelling Place	Lowcliffe	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton
Folio	11/4954
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Dean O'Donnell

575

19 June 1911

Arthur Sharman
Clara Myers

Arthur Charman
Clara Myers
💍 1911/3773

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

28
24

Hampstead
Hampstead

3 days
3 days

Presbyterian Church, Ashburton

11/3477

19 June 1911

Rev. H. B. Buglis

No	575
Date of Notice	19 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Sharman	Clara Myers
BDM Match (96%)	Arthur Charman	Clara Myers
	💍 1911/3773
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	28	24
Dwelling Place	Hampstead	Hampstead
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Ashburton
Folio	11/3477
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. B. Buglis

576

19 June 1911

Edward Flaherty
Mary Florence Hicks

Edward Flaherty
Mary Florence Hicks
💍 1911/5099

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

26
25

Waimate
Waimate

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton

11/4963

19 June 1911

Dean O'Donnell

No	576
Date of Notice	19 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Flaherty	Mary Florence Hicks
	💍 1911/5099
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Waimate	Waimate
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Ashburton
Folio	11/4963
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Dean O'Donnell

577

24 June 1911

Frank Edwin Amos
Alice May Davis

Frank Edwin Amos
Alice May Davis
💍 1911/6213

Bachelor
Spinster

Publisher
Domestic duties

22
56

Ashburton
Tinwald

22 years
20 years

St. Stephen's Church, Ashburton

11/6054

24 June 1911

Rev. G. Whitehouse

No	577
Date of Notice	24 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Edwin Amos	Alice May Davis
	💍 1911/6213
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Publisher	Domestic duties
Age	22	56
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Tinwald
Length of Residence	22 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephen's Church, Ashburton
Folio	11/6054
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Whitehouse

578

26 June 1911

Walter John Leach
Ethel Amelia Baker

Walter John Leach
Ethel Amelia Baker
💍 1911/6148

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer
Domestic duties

36
33

Scargill
Ashburton

3 days
1 month

At the dwelling of J. W. Baker, Walnut Avenue, Allenton

11/6089

26 June 1911

Rev. W. J. Elliott

No	578
Date of Notice	26 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Walter John Leach	Ethel Amelia Baker
	💍 1911/6148
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	36	33
Dwelling Place	Scargill	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	1 month
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of J. W. Baker, Walnut Avenue, Allenton
Folio	11/6089
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Elliott

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).