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 136

District of Cust Quarter ending 30 September 1911 Registrar Ornon

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

8 July 1911

Robert Henderson
Annie Henrietta Allison

Robert Henderson
Annie Jennetta Allison
💍 1911/5810

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner
Household Duties

29
22

Cust
Cust

7 years
22 years

St. James Anglican Church, Cust

11/5680

11 July 1911

Rev. A. Fox

No	6
Date of Notice	8 July 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henderson	Annie Henrietta Allison
BDM Match (94%)	Robert Henderson	Annie Jennetta Allison
	💍 1911/5810
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner	Household Duties
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Cust	Cust
Length of Residence	7 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. James Anglican Church, Cust
Folio	11/5680
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 July 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Fox

30 July 1911

Peter Calam
Margaret Marshall

Peter Ealam
Margaret Marshall
💍 1911/5888

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Household Duties

25
19

West Melton
West Melton

1 week
19 years

House of Mr. Thos. Marshall, West Melton

11/5765

Thos. Marshall, father of bride

3 August 1911

Rev. E. G. Howes

No	7
Date of Notice	30 July 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Calam	Margaret Marshall
BDM Match (95%)	Peter Ealam	Margaret Marshall
	💍 1911/5888
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Household Duties
Age	25	19
Dwelling Place	West Melton	West Melton
Length of Residence	1 week	19 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Thos. Marshall, West Melton
Folio	11/5765
Consent	Thos. Marshall, father of bride
Date of Certificate	3 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. G. Howes

10 August 1911

William George Hartley
Jane Robinson

William George Bradley
Jane Robinson
💍 1911/5893

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household Duties

28
29

West Eyreton
West Eyreton

28 years
29 years

House of Mr. Robinson, West Eyreton

11/5767

11 August 1911

Rev. A. B. Orchard

No	8
Date of Notice	10 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Hartley	Jane Robinson
BDM Match (91%)	William George Bradley	Jane Robinson
	💍 1911/5893
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household Duties
Age	28	29
Dwelling Place	West Eyreton	West Eyreton
Length of Residence	28 years	29 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr. Robinson, West Eyreton
Folio	11/5767
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. B. Orchard

12 August 1911

Thomas Johnstone Jackson
Elsie Caroline Robb

Thomas Grimston Jackson
Elsie Caroline Robb
💍 1911/5894

Bachelor
Spinster

Cabinetmaker
Household Duties

25
20

Cust
Cust

2 years
20 years

Presbyterian Church, Cust

11/5468

Mary Robb, mother of bride

15 August 1911

Rev. E. G. Howes

No	9
Date of Notice	12 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Johnstone Jackson	Elsie Caroline Robb
BDM Match (90%)	Thomas Grimston Jackson	Elsie Caroline Robb
	💍 1911/5894
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cabinetmaker	Household Duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Cust	Cust
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Cust
Folio	11/5468
Consent	Mary Robb, mother of bride
Date of Certificate	15 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. G. Howes

19 August 1911

Edward Benjamin Burrows
Margaret Florence Robb

Edward Benjamin Burrows
Margaret Florence Robb
💍 1911/5892

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Household Duties

26
26

Kaikoura
Kaikoura

3 days
26 years

Presbyterian Church, Cust

11/5766

22 August 1911

Rev. E. G. Howes

No	10
Date of Notice	19 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Benjamin Burrows	Margaret Florence Robb
	💍 1911/5892
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Household Duties
Age	26	26
Dwelling Place	Kaikoura	Kaikoura
Length of Residence	3 days	26 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Cust
Folio	11/5766
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. G. Howes

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).