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 142

District of Ellesmere Quarter ending 31 March 1911 Registrar E. B. Carter

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

1/11

17 January 1911

John Edward Yeoman
Elizabeth Gertrude Rordan

John Edward Yeoman
Elizabeth Gertrude Riordan
💍 1911/1971

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Housekeeper

27
33

Homebush
Southbridge

20 years
1 month

Roman Catholic Church, Malvern

11/1515

17 January 1911

Rev. P. Fanning

No	1/11
Date of Notice	17 January 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edward Yeoman	Elizabeth Gertrude Rordan
BDM Match (98%)	John Edward Yeoman	Elizabeth Gertrude Riordan
	💍 1911/1971
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Housekeeper
Age	27	33
Dwelling Place	Homebush	Southbridge
Length of Residence	20 years	1 month
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Malvern
Folio	11/1515
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 January 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Fanning

2/11

7 February 1911

Charles Arthur Chester
Elnor Mawson

Charles Arthur Chester
Elinor Mawson
💍 1911/4178

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

26
27

Irwell
Irwell

12 years
8 years

Presbyterian Church, Brookside

11/3987

7 February 1911

Rev. J. R. Hewland

No	2/11
Date of Notice	7 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Arthur Chester	Elnor Mawson
BDM Match (96%)	Charles Arthur Chester	Elinor Mawson
	💍 1911/4178
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Irwell	Irwell
Length of Residence	12 years	8 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Brookside
Folio	11/3987
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Hewland

3/11

20 February 1911

Patrick Slattery
May Alice Grey

Patrick Slattery
Mary Alice Grey
💍 1911/2329

Bachelor
Spinster

Cordial Manufacturer
Domestic Duties

41
30

Leeston
Christchurch

about 39 years
20 years

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch

11/1679

20 February 1911

Rev. Father Mahony

No	3/11
Date of Notice	20 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Slattery	May Alice Grey
BDM Match (97%)	Patrick Slattery	Mary Alice Grey
	💍 1911/2329
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cordial Manufacturer	Domestic Duties
Age	41	30
Dwelling Place	Leeston	Christchurch
Length of Residence	about 39 years	20 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Christchurch
Folio	11/1679
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Mahony

4/11

21 February 1911

Robert Allen Prest
Elizabeth Ann Boyle

Robert Allen Prisk
Elizabeth Ann O'Boyle
💍 1911/1967

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Accountant
Domestic Duties

31
25

Lawrence
Leeston

23 months
25 years

Roman Catholic Church, Inapeka

11/1495

21 February 1911

Rev. Father Hills

No	4/11
Date of Notice	21 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Allen Prest	Elizabeth Ann Boyle
BDM Match (90%)	Robert Allen Prisk	Elizabeth Ann O'Boyle
	💍 1911/1967
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Accountant	Domestic Duties
Age	31	25
Dwelling Place	Lawrence	Leeston
Length of Residence	23 months	25 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Inapeka
Folio	11/1495
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Hills

5/11

4 March 1911

Robert Duff
Elsie McLean Brears

Robert Duff
Elsie McLean Brears
💍 1911/4155

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

27
21

Irwell
Brookside

7 years
2 months

St. Luke's Church, Brookside

11/3988

4 March 1911

Rev. J. R. Hewland

No	5/11
Date of Notice	4 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Duff	Elsie McLean Brears
	💍 1911/4155
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Irwell	Brookside
Length of Residence	7 years	2 months
Marriage Place	St. Luke's Church, Brookside
Folio	11/3988
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. R. Hewland

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).