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 468

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 30 September 1911

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

442

9 August 1911

Alexander Gordon Arthur
Margaret Robertson

Alexander Gordon Arthur
Margaret Robertson
💍 1911/6523

Bachelor
Spinster

Grocer

26
22

North East Valley
North East Valley

15 years
1 year

In the house of Mr E Robertson, 141 Main Road, North East Valley

11/6194

9 August G R Smith

No	442
Date of Notice	9 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Gordon Arthur	Margaret Robertson
	💍 1911/6523
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Grocer
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	North East Valley
Length of Residence	15 years	1 year
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr E Robertson, 141 Main Road, North East Valley
Folio	11/6194
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	9 August G R Smith

443

10 August 1911

Douglas Standage Bewley
Linda Rebekah Bewley

Douglas Standage
Linda Rebeccah Bewley
💍 1911/5912

Bachelor
Spinster

Bank Clerk

25
25

Mornington
Mornington

8 months
2 years

In the Wara-Tah Tea rooms, George Street, Dunedin

11/5790

10 August C H Standage

No	443
Date of Notice	10 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Douglas Standage Bewley	Linda Rebekah Bewley
BDM Match (80%)	Douglas Standage	Linda Rebeccah Bewley
	💍 1911/5912
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bank Clerk
Age	25	25
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Mornington
Length of Residence	8 months	2 years
Marriage Place	In the Wara-Tah Tea rooms, George Street, Dunedin
Folio	11/5790
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	10 August C H Standage

444

10 August 1911

James Henry Garlick Wilson
Florence Hope Holbrook

James Henry Garlick Wilson
Florence Hope Holbrook
💍 1911/6022

Bachelor
Spinster

Broom maker

22
17

Dunedin
Roslyn

22 years
17 years

In St Pauls Cathedral, Dunedin

11/5825

Mary Ann Holbrook, mother

10 August H S Gould

No	444
Date of Notice	10 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Henry Garlick Wilson	Florence Hope Holbrook
	💍 1911/6022
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Broom maker
Age	22	17
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Roslyn
Length of Residence	22 years	17 years
Marriage Place	In St Pauls Cathedral, Dunedin
Folio	11/5825
Consent	Mary Ann Holbrook, mother
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	10 August H S Gould

445

11 August 1911

Robert Barbour
Elizabeth Ellen Smith

Robert Barbour
Elizabeth Ellen Smith
💍 1911/6059

Bachelor
Widow

Railway Porter

22
32

Dunedin
Port Chalmers

3 days
32 years

In Knox Church Port Vestry, Chalmers

11/5962

11 August R E Davies

No	445
Date of Notice	11 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Barbour	Elizabeth Ellen Smith
	💍 1911/6059
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Railway Porter
Age	22	32
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Port Chalmers
Length of Residence	3 days	32 years
Marriage Place	In Knox Church Port Vestry, Chalmers
Folio	11/5962
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	11 August R E Davies

446

11 August 1911

Charles Nunns
Amy Braden

Charles Nunns
Amy Braden
💍 1911/4647

Bachelor
Spinster

Tram Conductor

36
22

Anderson's Bay
Dunedin

4 years
7 months

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

11/4469

11 August H Maxwell

No	446
Date of Notice	11 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Nunns	Amy Braden
	💍 1911/4647
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Tram Conductor
Age	36	22
Dwelling Place	Anderson's Bay	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	7 months
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	11/4469
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	11 August H Maxwell

447

12 August 1911

Lauchlan Bean Beatson
Janet Alexander Baird

Lauchlan Bean Beatson
Janet Alexander Baird
💍 1911/5131

Bachelor
Spinster

Yardman

37
30

Caversham
Mornington

8 years
10 years

In the house of Mr J Baird, 39 Walter Street, Mornington

11/4984

12 August W S Fernie

No	447
Date of Notice	12 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lauchlan Bean Beatson	Janet Alexander Baird
	💍 1911/5131
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Yardman
Age	37	30
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Mornington
Length of Residence	8 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr J Baird, 39 Walter Street, Mornington
Folio	11/4984
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	12 August W S Fernie

448

12 August 1911

Thomas Scott McGill
Jane Campbell McGill

Thomas Scott
Jane Campbell McGill
💍 1911/4648

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

33
22

Green Island
Green Island

33 years
20 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

11/4470

12 August H Maxwell

No	448
Date of Notice	12 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Scott McGill	Jane Campbell McGill
BDM Match (82%)	Thomas Scott	Jane Campbell McGill
	💍 1911/4648
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	33	22
Dwelling Place	Green Island	Green Island
Length of Residence	33 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	11/4470
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	12 August 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).