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 413

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1911 Registrar Henry Maxwell

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

21 February 1911

John Procter
Ethel Wilson

John Procter
Ethel Wilson
💍 1911/1721

Bachelor
Spinster

Tailor
Hairdresser

25 years
26 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 years
1 year

In the Baptist Church, Hanover Street, Dunedin

11/1244

21 February 1911

E. H. Hobday

No	85
Date of Notice	21 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Procter	Ethel Wilson
	💍 1911/1721
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tailor	Hairdresser
Age	25 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 years	1 year
Marriage Place	In the Baptist Church, Hanover Street, Dunedin
Folio	11/1244
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1911
Officiating Minister	E. H. Hobday

21 February 1911

Hugh McRae
Mary Elizabeth Pirquich

Hugh McRae
Mary Elizabeth Ricquich
💍 1911/1881

Bachelor
Spinster

Naval Architect

32 years
27 years

Dunedin
Mornington

2 years
2 years

In Knox Church Manse

11/1101

21 February 1911

R. E. Davies

No	86
Date of Notice	21 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh McRae	Mary Elizabeth Pirquich
BDM Match (96%)	Hugh McRae	Mary Elizabeth Ricquich
	💍 1911/1881
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Naval Architect
Age	32 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Mornington
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In Knox Church Manse
Folio	11/1101
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 February 1911
Officiating Minister	R. E. Davies

22 February 1911

Bartholomew Horgan
Margaret Brosnahan

Bartholomew Horgan
Margaret Brosnahan
💍 1911/1573

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

34 years
29 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
6 weeks

In St. Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin

11/1143

22 February 1911

J. Coffey

No	87
Date of Notice	22 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bartholomew Horgan	Margaret Brosnahan
	💍 1911/1573
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	34 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	6 weeks
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	11/1143
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1911
Officiating Minister	J. Coffey

22 February 1911

William Philip Pennell
Mary Beatty

William Philip Pennell
Mary Beatty
💍 1911/1814

Widower
Spinster

Butcher

46 years
35 years

Caversham
Caversham

3 days
3 days

In St. Peter's Church, Caversham

11/1285

22 February 1911

B. M. King

No	88
Date of Notice	22 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Philip Pennell	Mary Beatty
	💍 1911/1814
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	46 years	35 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Caversham
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In St. Peter's Church, Caversham
Folio	11/1285
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1911
Officiating Minister	B. M. King

22 February 1911

Cecil Joseph Holdgate
Margaret Davidson

Cecil Joseph Holdgate
Margaret Davidson
💍 1911/1937

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmonger

30 years
27 years

West Harbour
West Harbour

3 days
18 months

In the First Church, Dunedin

11/1463

22 February 1911

W. Mc. Nicolson

No	89
Date of Notice	22 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cecil Joseph Holdgate	Margaret Davidson
	💍 1911/1937
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmonger
Age	30 years	27 years
Dwelling Place	West Harbour	West Harbour
Length of Residence	3 days	18 months
Marriage Place	In the First Church, Dunedin
Folio	11/1463
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1911
Officiating Minister	W. Mc. Nicolson

22 February 1911

Hugh David Robert McCully
Gladys Constance Smith

Hugh David Robert McCully
Gladys Constance Smith
💍 1911/1596

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Dressmaker

24 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In St. Joseph's Cathedral Vestry, Dunedin

11/1142

22 February 1911

Jas. Coffey

No	90
Date of Notice	22 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh David Robert McCully	Gladys Constance Smith
	💍 1911/1596
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Dressmaker
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In St. Joseph's Cathedral Vestry, Dunedin
Folio	11/1142
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Jas. Coffey

23 February 1911

Herbert Harry Booth
Lucy Mary Humphries

Herbert Harry Booth
Lucy Mary Humphries
💍 1911/1883

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

24 years
28 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In Knox Church Manse, Dunedin

11/1102

23 February 1911

R. E. Davies

No	91
Date of Notice	23 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Harry Booth	Lucy Mary Humphries
	💍 1911/1883
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	24 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In Knox Church Manse, Dunedin
Folio	11/1102
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1911
Officiating Minister	R. E. Davies

23 February 1911

John Petrie Carew Harvey
Ellen Sparrow

John Petrie Carew Harvey
Ellen Sparrow
💍 1911/1792

Bachelor
Spinster

Fitter

31 years
30 years

Dunedin
South Dunedin

18 months
10 years

In the Baptist Church, Oxford Street, South Dunedin

11/1290

23 February 1911

W. Perry

No	92
Date of Notice	23 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Petrie Carew Harvey	Ellen Sparrow
	💍 1911/1792
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fitter
Age	31 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	18 months	10 years
Marriage Place	In the Baptist Church, Oxford Street, South Dunedin
Folio	11/1290
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1911
Officiating Minister	W. Perry

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).