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 878

District of Winton Quarter ending 31 December 1911 Registrar I. G. Russell

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

117

19 October 1911

Bertram Marshall Back
Catherine McCarthy

Bertram Marshall Officer
Catherine McCarthy
💍 1911/8795

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller
Domestic duties

21
19

Winton
Ryal Bush

3 days
3 years

St Thomas's Church, Invercargill

11/8784

Michael McCarthy, father

19 October 1911

Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

No	117
Date of Notice	19 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Bertram Marshall Back	Catherine McCarthy
BDM Match (88%)	Bertram Marshall Officer	Catherine McCarthy
	💍 1911/8795
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Domestic duties
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	Winton	Ryal Bush
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	St Thomas's Church, Invercargill
Folio	11/8784
Consent	Michael McCarthy, father
Date of Certificate	19 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

118

20 October 1911

Leslie Dawson Cowie
Margaret Leigh Murdoch

Leslie Dawson Cowie
Margaret McLeish Murdoch
💍 1911/8085

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

31
22

Winton
Oreti

31 years
22 years

House of Mr John Murdoch, Oreti

11/8123

20 October 1911

Rev. R. Mackie, Presbyterian

No	118
Date of Notice	20 October 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Dawson Cowie	Margaret Leigh Murdoch
BDM Match (94%)	Leslie Dawson Cowie	Margaret McLeish Murdoch
	💍 1911/8085
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Winton	Oreti
Length of Residence	31 years	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr John Murdoch, Oreti
Folio	11/8123
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mackie, Presbyterian

119

3 November 1911

James Maxwell Mullin
Ellen Strang

James Maxwell Mullin
Ellen Strang
💍 1911/8225

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill labourer

24
23

Winton
Winton

2 years
2 months

The Manse, Winton

11/8194

3 November 1911

Rev. R. Mackie, Presbyterian

No	119
Date of Notice	3 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Maxwell Mullin	Ellen Strang
	💍 1911/8225
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill labourer
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	2 years	2 months
Marriage Place	The Manse, Winton
Folio	11/8194
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Mackie, Presbyterian

120

10 November 1911

Edward James Robertson
Jessie McRae

Edward James Robertson
Jessie McRae
💍 1911/8989

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic duties

30
28

Springhills
Springhills

6 years
3 years

Roman Catholic Church, Winton

11/8143

10 November 1911

Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

No	120
Date of Notice	10 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward James Robertson	Jessie McRae
	💍 1911/8989
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic duties
Age	30	28
Dwelling Place	Springhills	Springhills
Length of Residence	6 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Winton
Folio	11/8143
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

121

21 November 1911

Frederick Warren Smith
Elsie Florence Creighton

Frederick Warren Smith
Elsie Florence Creighton
💍 1911/8988

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill hand
Domestic duties

24
19

Winton
Winton

24 years
19 years

House of Mr Thomas Higgie, Creighton, Winton

11/8142

Thomas Higgie, father

21 November 1911

Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

No	121
Date of Notice	21 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Warren Smith	Elsie Florence Creighton
	💍 1911/8988
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill hand	Domestic duties
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	24 years	19 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr Thomas Higgie, Creighton, Winton
Folio	11/8142
Consent	Thomas Higgie, father
Date of Certificate	21 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

122

24 November 1911

Frederick Warren Smith
Elsie Florence Creighton

Frederick Warren Smith
Elsie Florence Creighton
💍 1911/8988

Bachelor
Spinster

Sawmill hand
Domestic duties

24
19

Winton
Winton

24 years
19 years

Roman Catholic Church, Winton

11/8144

Thomas Higgie, father

24 November 1911

Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

No	122
Date of Notice	24 November 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Warren Smith	Elsie Florence Creighton
	💍 1911/8988
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sawmill hand	Domestic duties
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Winton	Winton
Length of Residence	24 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Winton
Folio	11/8144
Consent	Thomas Higgie, father
Date of Certificate	24 November 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. O'Neill, Roman Catholic

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).