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 463

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 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

408

17 July 1911

Herbert Charles Stevens
Irene Agnes Clinton

Herbert Charles Stevens
Irene Fynes-Clinton
💍 1911/5521

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

32 years
24 years

Dunedin
Andersons Bay

3 days
4 years

In St Michaels Church

11/5369

17 July 1911

H. G. Gould

No	408
Date of Notice	17 July 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Charles Stevens	Irene Agnes Clinton
BDM Match (92%)	Herbert Charles Stevens	Irene Fynes-Clinton
	💍 1911/5521
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	32 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Andersons Bay
Length of Residence	3 days	4 years
Marriage Place	In St Michaels Church
Folio	11/5369
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1911
Officiating Minister	H. G. Gould

409

17 July 1911

Henry James Burt
Gertrude Wiseman

Henry James Burt
Gertrude Wiseman
💍 1911/5628

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener

34 years
22 years

Roslyn
Roslyn

6 years
3 months

In The House of Mr G. Newman, 23 King Street, Roslyn

11/5443

17 July 1911

G. K. McIntyre

No	409
Date of Notice	17 July 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Burt	Gertrude Wiseman
	💍 1911/5628
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener
Age	34 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Roslyn
Length of Residence	6 years	3 months
Marriage Place	In The House of Mr G. Newman, 23 King Street, Roslyn
Folio	11/5443
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 July 1911
Officiating Minister	G. K. McIntyre

410

19 July 1911

John James Melton Stapleton
Margaret Annie Stapleton

John James Milton
Margaret Annie Stapleton
💍 1911/8452

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

30 years
28 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
28 years

In St Josephs Cathedral Vestry, Dunedin

11/8533

19 July 1911

W. Corcoran

No	410
Date of Notice	19 July 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John James Melton Stapleton	Margaret Annie Stapleton
BDM Match (80%)	John James Milton	Margaret Annie Stapleton
	💍 1911/8452
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	30 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	28 years
Marriage Place	In St Josephs Cathedral Vestry, Dunedin
Folio	11/8533
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1911
Officiating Minister	W. Corcoran

411

19 July 1911

Hector James Baxter Harraway
Ada Ethel Harraway

Widower
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

45 years
28 years

Dunedin
Green Island

3 days
28 years

In the House of W. Harraway, Green Island

11/5795

19 July 1911

E. G. Neale

No	411
Date of Notice	19 July 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hector James Baxter Harraway	Ada Ethel Harraway
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	45 years	28 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Green Island
Length of Residence	3 days	28 years
Marriage Place	In the House of W. Harraway, Green Island
Folio	11/5795
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 July 1911
Officiating Minister	E. G. Neale

412

20 July 1911

Daniel Evans
Sarah McWilliams

Daniel Evans
Sarah McWilliams
💍 1911/4646

Widower
Spinster

Labourer

69 years
44 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

40 years
12 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

11/4459

20 July 1911

H. Maxwell

No	412
Date of Notice	20 July 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel Evans	Sarah McWilliams
	💍 1911/4646
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	69 years	44 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	40 years	12 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	11/4459
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1911
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

413

20 July 1911

William Colbert
Janet Beath

William Colbert
Janet Beath
💍 1911/4657

Widower
Divorced

Military Instructor

36 years
42 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

2 years
30 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

11/4460

20 July 1911

H. Maxwell

No	413
Date of Notice	20 July 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Colbert	Janet Beath
	💍 1911/4657
Condition	Widower	Divorced
Profession	Military Instructor
Age	36 years	42 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	30 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	11/4460
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 July 1911
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

414

24 July 1911

Owen Jones
Jessie Buchanan Cuff

Owen Jones
Jessie Buchanan Cuff
💍 1911/6001

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner

35 years
29 years

Dunedin
South Dunedin

3 days
3 months

In the House of Miss G. Cuff, 36 Melbourne Street, South Dunedin

11/5961

24 July 1911

J. C. Gellie

No	414
Date of Notice	24 July 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Owen Jones	Jessie Buchanan Cuff
	💍 1911/6001
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner
Age	35 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 months
Marriage Place	In the House of Miss G. Cuff, 36 Melbourne Street, South Dunedin
Folio	11/5961
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 July 1911
Officiating Minister	J. C. Gellie

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).