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 671

District of Lumsden Quarter ending 31 December 1911 Registrar James Martin

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

260

14 October 1911

Alexander Patterson
Louisa Simon Allan

Alexander Patterson
Louisa Simmons Allen
💍 1911/8157

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic Duties

29
23

Mossburn
Mossburn

7 years
10 months

Residence of Mr. A. Patterson, Lumsden

11/8175

18 October 1911

Rev. David J. A. Shaw

No	260
Date of Notice	14 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Patterson	Louisa Simon Allan
BDM Match (93%)	Alexander Patterson	Louisa Simmons Allen
	💍 1911/8157
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	29	23
Dwelling Place	Mossburn	Mossburn
Length of Residence	7 years	10 months
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. A. Patterson, Lumsden
Folio	11/8175
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. David J. A. Shaw

261

14 October 1911

Thomas Bithington
Lucy Elizabeth Martin

Thomas Withington
Lucy Elizabeth Martin
💍 1911/8156

Bachelor
Spinster

Railway Clerk
Domestic Duties

20
25

Lumsden
Lumsden

4 Days
21 years

All Saints Church, Lumsden

11/8174

Father

18 October 1911

Rev. Wm. Uphill

No	261
Date of Notice	14 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Bithington	Lucy Elizabeth Martin
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas Withington	Lucy Elizabeth Martin
	💍 1911/8156
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Railway Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	20	25
Dwelling Place	Lumsden	Lumsden
Length of Residence	4 Days	21 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Lumsden
Folio	11/8174
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	18 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Uphill

262

1 November 1911

John Henry Daley
Johanna Conaghan

John Henry Daly
Johanna Conaghan
💍 1911/8248

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

28
23

Balfour
Balfour

3 years
23 years

St. Columba Church, Balfour

11/8268

1 November 1911

Rev. M. Keenan

No	262
Date of Notice	1 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Henry Daley	Johanna Conaghan
BDM Match (97%)	John Henry Daly	Johanna Conaghan
	💍 1911/8248
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	23
Dwelling Place	Balfour	Balfour
Length of Residence	3 years	23 years
Marriage Place	St. Columba Church, Balfour
Folio	11/8268
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Keenan

263

24 November 1911

George Elliot
Mary Ellen Chute

George Elliott
Mary Ellen Chute
💍 1911/8251

Bachelor
Spinster

Carter
Domestic Duties

25
22

Lumsden
Lumsden

3 Days
2 months

St. Michael's Church, Lumsden

11/8271

27 November 1911

Rev. Wm. Corcoran

No	263
Date of Notice	24 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Elliot	Mary Ellen Chute
BDM Match (96%)	George Elliott	Mary Ellen Chute
	💍 1911/8251
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carter	Domestic Duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Lumsden	Lumsden
Length of Residence	3 Days	2 months
Marriage Place	St. Michael's Church, Lumsden
Folio	11/8271
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Corcoran

264

24 November 1911

Michael John Hiskey
Catherine Josephine Mulqueen

Michael John Hickey
Catherine Josephine Mulqueen
💍 1911/8250

Bachelor
Spinster

Contractor
Domestic Duties

27
26

Balfour
Balfour

4 days
26 years

St. Columba Church, Balfour

11/8270

28 November 1911

Rev. M. Keenan

No	264
Date of Notice	24 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael John Hiskey	Catherine Josephine Mulqueen
BDM Match (97%)	Michael John Hickey	Catherine Josephine Mulqueen
	💍 1911/8250
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Contractor	Domestic Duties
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Balfour	Balfour
Length of Residence	4 days	26 years
Marriage Place	St. Columba Church, Balfour
Folio	11/8270
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Keenan

265

29 November 1911

George Smaill
Catherine Jane Crobie

George Small
Catherine Jane Crosbie
💍 1911/8982

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
Domestic Duties

25
35

Lumsden
Mossburn

25 years
35 years

Public Hall, Mossburn

11/8141

27 November 1911

Rev. Pat. O'Neill

No	265
Date of Notice	29 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Smaill	Catherine Jane Crobie
BDM Match (94%)	George Small	Catherine Jane Crosbie
	💍 1911/8982
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	Domestic Duties
Age	25	35
Dwelling Place	Lumsden	Mossburn
Length of Residence	25 years	35 years
Marriage Place	Public Hall, Mossburn
Folio	11/8141
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Pat. O'Neill

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).