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 285

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 June 1911 Registrar Alexander Montgomery

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

12 April 1911

George Edward Burrell
Florence Elizabeth Hutchins

George Edward Burrell
Florence Elizabeth Hutchins
💍 1911/3823

Bachelor
Spinster

Grain & Wool Storeman
Domestic duties

24 years
21 years

Waimataitai
Waimataitai

16 years
21 years

Wesleyan Church, Waimataitai

11/3528

12 April 1911

Rev. A. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

No	50
Date of Notice	12 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Edward Burrell	Florence Elizabeth Hutchins
	💍 1911/3823
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grain & Wool Storeman	Domestic duties
Age	24 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Waimataitai	Waimataitai
Length of Residence	16 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Waimataitai
Folio	11/3528
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

18 April 1911

Joseph Henry Busch
Annie Wheeler

Joseph Henry Busch
Annie Wheeler
💍 1911/3677

Bachelor
Widow

Shepherd
Housekeeper

34 years
38 years

Timaru
Seadown

5 days
4 months

Dwellinghouse of Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Harper St, Timaru

11/3405

18 April 1911

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	51
Date of Notice	18 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Henry Busch	Annie Wheeler
	💍 1911/3677
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Shepherd	Housekeeper
Age	34 years	38 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Seadown
Length of Residence	5 days	4 months
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Harper St, Timaru
Folio	11/3405
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

18 April 1911

William Richard Haughton
Ethel Susan Drew

William Richard Haughton
Ethel Susan Drew
💍 1911/6222

Widower
Spinster

Railway Labourer
Domestic duties

46 years
30 years

Timaru
Timaru

4 days
15 months

Dwellinghouse of Mrs Lewis, Sophia St, Timaru

11/6113

18 April 1911

Rev. A. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

No	52
Date of Notice	18 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Richard Haughton	Ethel Susan Drew
	💍 1911/6222
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Railway Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	46 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 days	15 months
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mrs Lewis, Sophia St, Timaru
Folio	11/6113
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

18 April 1911

David Hope Lewis
Olive Jessie Jamieson Bell

David Hope Lewis
Olive Jessie Jamieson Bell
💍 1911/3678

Bachelor
Spinster

Draper
Saleswoman

33 years
19 years

Timaru
Timaru

2 1/2 years
3 years

Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru

11/3406

Peter Jamieson Bell, Father

18 April 1911

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	53
Date of Notice	18 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Hope Lewis	Olive Jessie Jamieson Bell
	💍 1911/3678
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Draper	Saleswoman
Age	33 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	11/3406
Consent	Peter Jamieson Bell, Father
Date of Certificate	18 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

18 April 1911

Joseph Leonard Offord Day
Agnes McDonald Smith

Joseph Leonard Duford Day
Agnes McDonald Smith
💍 1911/3822

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Domestic duties

24 years
24 years

Timaru
Timaru

4 days
4 years

Dwellinghouse of John Rose Smith, North St, Timaru

11/3527

18 April 1911

Rev. W. Baumber, Wesleyan Minister

No	54
Date of Notice	18 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Leonard Offord Day	Agnes McDonald Smith
BDM Match (96%)	Joseph Leonard Duford Day	Agnes McDonald Smith
	💍 1911/3822
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Domestic duties
Age	24 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 days	4 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of John Rose Smith, North St, Timaru
Folio	11/3527
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. Baumber, Wesleyan Minister

22 April 1911

Thomas William Rennie
Theresa Bruce Smith

Thomas William Rennie
Theresa Bruce Smith
💍 1911/3715

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Lady's Companion

29 years
29 years

Timaru
Timaru

4 years
2 weeks

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

11/3420

22 April 1911

Rev. John Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	55
Date of Notice	22 April 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas William Rennie	Theresa Bruce Smith
	💍 1911/3715
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Lady's Companion
Age	29 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	11/3420
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 April 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

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).