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 144

District of Ellesmere Quarter ending 30 June 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

10/11

15 April 1911

Garnet Howard Ryde
Lillian Frances McMillan

Garnet Howard Ryde
Lillian Frances McMillan
💍 1911/5335

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

28
21

Dunedin
Southbridge

10 months
21 years

St. Johns Church, Dunedin

11/3978

15 April 1911

Rev. R. H. Jackson

No	10/11
Date of Notice	15 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Garnet Howard Ryde	Lillian Frances McMillan
	💍 1911/5335
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Southbridge
Length of Residence	10 months	21 years
Marriage Place	St. Johns Church, Dunedin
Folio	11/3978
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. H. Jackson

11/11

15 April 1911

George Searle
Jessie Longton Free

George Searle
Jessie Longhton Free
💍 1911/3847

Bachelor
Spinster

Bushman
Domestic Duties

32
27

Ross
Ross

20 years
25 years

English Holy Trinity Church, Southbridge

11/3552

15 April 1911

Rev. H. G. Hawkins

No	11/11
Date of Notice	15 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Searle	Jessie Longton Free
BDM Match (98%)	George Searle	Jessie Longhton Free
	💍 1911/3847
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bushman	Domestic Duties
Age	32	27
Dwelling Place	Ross	Ross
Length of Residence	20 years	25 years
Marriage Place	English Holy Trinity Church, Southbridge
Folio	11/3552
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Hawkins

12/11

19 April 1911

William Paul Brizzle
Martha Hampton

William Paul Briggle
Martha Hampton
💍 1911/4165

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

40
35

Christchurch
Southbridge

7 years
8 years

In The Residence of Christopher Hampton, Southbridge

11/3980

19 April 1911

Rev. R. H. Jackson

No	12/11
Date of Notice	19 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Paul Brizzle	Martha Hampton
BDM Match (95%)	William Paul Briggle	Martha Hampton
	💍 1911/4165
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	40	35
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Southbridge
Length of Residence	7 years	8 years
Marriage Place	In The Residence of Christopher Hampton, Southbridge
Folio	11/3980
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. H. Jackson

13/11

23 May 1911

John Henry Orr
Maria Brookbourne

John Henry Orr
Maria Washbourne
💍 1911/8907

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

30
36

Hamatena
Brookside

4 years
33 years

St. Lukes Church, Auckland

11/3976

23 May 1911

Rev. R. Hewland

No	13/11
Date of Notice	23 May 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Orr	Maria Brookbourne
BDM Match (85%)	John Henry Orr	Maria Washbourne
	💍 1911/8907
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	36
Dwelling Place	Hamatena	Brookside
Length of Residence	4 years	33 years
Marriage Place	St. Lukes Church, Auckland
Folio	11/3976
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 May 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Hewland

14/11

23 June 1911

William Frank Gulliver
Annie Elizabeth Maw

William Frank Gulliver
Annie Elizabeth Maw
💍 1911/3918

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic Duties

28
22

Leeston
Doyleston

28 years
5 years

Presbyterian Church, Leeston

11/3647

23 June 1911

Rev. P. C. Durward

No	14/11
Date of Notice	23 June 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frank Gulliver	Annie Elizabeth Maw
	💍 1911/3918
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	28	22
Dwelling Place	Leeston	Doyleston
Length of Residence	28 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Leeston
Folio	11/3647
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 June 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. Durward

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).