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 148

District of Ellesmere Quarter ending 31 December 1911 Registrar Walter Abbott Mansell

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

19/11

10 October 1911

John Inalhern
Delia OBrien

John Mulhern
Delia O'Brien
💍 1911/8172

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

41
36

Pahautanius
Killenchy

4 years

Roman Catholic Church, Leeston

11/8189

10 October 1911

Rev. Father Jas Taylor, Leeston

No	19/11
Date of Notice	10 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Inalhern	Delia OBrien
BDM Match (85%)	John Mulhern	Delia O'Brien
	💍 1911/8172
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	41	36
Dwelling Place	Pahautanius	Killenchy
Length of Residence	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Leeston
Folio	11/8189
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Jas Taylor, Leeston

20/11

10 October 1911

John James Buckley
Julia Ann OBrien

John James Buckley
Julia Ann O'Brien
💍 1911/8171

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

43
39

Highbank
Killinchy

4 years

Roman Catholic Church, Leeston

11/8188

10 October 1911

Rev. Father James Taylor, Leeston

No	20/11
Date of Notice	10 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Buckley	Julia Ann OBrien
BDM Match (97%)	John James Buckley	Julia Ann O'Brien
	💍 1911/8171
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	43	39
Dwelling Place	Highbank	Killinchy
Length of Residence	4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Leeston
Folio	11/8188
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father James Taylor, Leeston

21/11

9 November 1911

Edward Taylor Bunting
Isabella Otampha

Edward Taylor Bunting
Isabella Hampton
💍 1911/6480

Bachelor
Spinster

Barman
Domestic Duties

35
20

Leeston
Southbridge

1 year
1 year 10 months

Church of England, Southbridge

11/6522

John H. G. Hampton, father of bride

9 November 1911

Rev. H. G. Hampton, Southbridge

No	21/11
Date of Notice	9 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Taylor Bunting	Isabella Otampha
BDM Match (84%)	Edward Taylor Bunting	Isabella Hampton
	💍 1911/6480
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Barman	Domestic Duties
Age	35	20
Dwelling Place	Leeston	Southbridge
Length of Residence	1 year	1 year 10 months
Marriage Place	Church of England, Southbridge
Folio	11/6522
Consent	John H. G. Hampton, father of bride
Date of Certificate	9 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Hampton, Southbridge

22/11

11 November 1911

George Croat
Lilian Benier Brascock

George Croat
Lilian Bradcock
💍 1911/8406

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

23
19

Leeston
Leeston

13 years
11 months

Residence of Mr. John Croat, Leeston

11/8485

E. T. Bunting, father of bride

11 November 1911

Rev. R. J. Jackson, Southbridge

No	22/11
Date of Notice	11 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Croat	Lilian Benier Brascock
BDM Match (82%)	George Croat	Lilian Bradcock
	💍 1911/8406
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Leeston	Leeston
Length of Residence	13 years	11 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. John Croat, Leeston
Folio	11/8485
Consent	E. T. Bunting, father of bride
Date of Certificate	11 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. J. Jackson, Southbridge

23/11

23 December 1911

Charles Cecil Franks
Jessie Hellen McKenzie

Charles Cecil Franks
Jessie Helen McKenzie
💍 1911/7965

Bachelor
Spinster

Flaxmiller
Domestic Duties

29
22

Foxton
Dunsandel

6 months
22 years

Presbyterian Church, Dunsandel

11/8025

23 December 1911

Rev. R. Ewen, Dunsandel

No	23/11
Date of Notice	23 December 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Cecil Franks	Jessie Hellen McKenzie
BDM Match (98%)	Charles Cecil Franks	Jessie Helen McKenzie
	💍 1911/7965
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Flaxmiller	Domestic Duties
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Foxton	Dunsandel
Length of Residence	6 months	22 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Dunsandel
Folio	11/8025
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 December 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Ewen, Dunsandel

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).