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 420

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

127

14 March 1911

George Frederick Drysdale
Elsie May Lockstone

George Frederick Drysdale
Elsie May Lockstone
💍 1911/355

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
15

North East Valley
North East Valley

7 months
15 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

11/1072

Edward Lockstone, father

14 March 1911

H. Maxwell

No	127
Date of Notice	14 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Frederick Drysdale	Elsie May Lockstone
	💍 1911/355
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	15
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	North East Valley
Length of Residence	7 months	15 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	11/1072
Consent	Edward Lockstone, father
Date of Certificate	14 March 1911
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

128

14 March 1911

William Watson Raff
Edith Emily Goldsberry

William Watson Raff
Edith Emily Goldsberry
💍 1911/3615

Bachelor
Spinster

Drainer
Dressmaker

29
27

North East Valley
North East Valley

4 years
17 years

In the house of Rev. Jas. Chisholm, Hart Street, Roslyn

11/3320

Jas. Chisholm, father

14 March 1911

Jas. Chisholm

No	128
Date of Notice	14 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Watson Raff	Edith Emily Goldsberry
	💍 1911/3615
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drainer	Dressmaker
Age	29	27
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	North East Valley
Length of Residence	4 years	17 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. Jas. Chisholm, Hart Street, Roslyn
Folio	11/3320
Consent	Jas. Chisholm, father
Date of Certificate	14 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Jas. Chisholm

129

14 March 1911

William Michael McLellan
Mary Cairns

William Michael McLellan
Mary Cairns
💍 1911/1878

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder

30
28

Dunedin
Dunedin

6 years
2 years

In Knox Church Vestry, Dunedin

11/1098

14 March 1911

R. E. Davies

No	129
Date of Notice	14 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Michael McLellan	Mary Cairns
	💍 1911/1878
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	6 years	2 years
Marriage Place	In Knox Church Vestry, Dunedin
Folio	11/1098
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1911
Officiating Minister	R. E. Davies

130

15 March 1911

James Gunn Clifford Tyson
Jessie Douglas Tyson

James Gunn Clifford
Jessie Douglas Ayson
💍 1911/1709

Widower
Spinster

Engine-driver

32
26

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
18 months

In the First Church, Dunedin

11/1255

15 March 1911

A. E. Aicksen

No	130
Date of Notice	15 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Gunn Clifford Tyson	Jessie Douglas Tyson
BDM Match (86%)	James Gunn Clifford	Jessie Douglas Ayson
	💍 1911/1709
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Engine-driver
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	18 months
Marriage Place	In the First Church, Dunedin
Folio	11/1255
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1911
Officiating Minister	A. E. Aicksen

131

15 March 1911

William Skinner Holmes
Margaret Grace Holmes

William Skinner
Margaret Grace Holmes
💍 1911/354

Widower
Spinster

Bootmaker

38
41

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 days
3 weeks

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

11/1071

15 March 1911

H. Maxwell

No	131
Date of Notice	15 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Skinner Holmes	Margaret Grace Holmes
BDM Match (84%)	William Skinner	Margaret Grace Holmes
	💍 1911/354
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	38	41
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	11/1071
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1911
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

132

15 March 1911

George Chalmers Smith
Annie Ellen Smith

George Chalmers
Annie Ellen Smith
💍 1911/2215

Bachelor
Spinster

Police Constable

34
26

Dunedin
Dunedin

5 years
3 weeks

In the First Church, Dunedin

11/1741

15 March 1911

R. Fairmaid

No	132
Date of Notice	15 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Chalmers Smith	Annie Ellen Smith
BDM Match (86%)	George Chalmers	Annie Ellen Smith
	💍 1911/2215
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Police Constable
Age	34	26
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	5 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	In the First Church, Dunedin
Folio	11/1741
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 March 1911
Officiating Minister	R. Fairmaid

133

16 March 1911

Sidney Warburton Hare
Ellen Major

Sidney Warburton Hare
Ellen Major
💍 1911/356

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

32
39

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 years
6 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

11/1073

16 March 1911

H. Maxwell

No	133
Date of Notice	16 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Sidney Warburton Hare	Ellen Major
	💍 1911/356
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	32	39
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	11/1073
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 March 1911
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).