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 419

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 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

120

10 March 1911

Henry Charles Gore
Ellen Willis

Henry Charles Gore
Ellen Willis
💍 1911/1720

Bachelor
Spinster

Photographer

28 years
22 years

St Kilda
South Dunedin

2 years
20 years

In the house of the Rev. Wm Slade, Royal Terrace, Dunedin

11/1243

10 March 1911

Wm Slade

No	120
Date of Notice	10 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Charles Gore	Ellen Willis
	💍 1911/1720
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Photographer
Age	28 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	St Kilda	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of the Rev. Wm Slade, Royal Terrace, Dunedin
Folio	11/1243
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Wm Slade

121

11 March 1911

Robert Thomas Bremner
Margaret Gilmour Anderson

Robert Thomas Bremner
Margaret Gilmour Anderson
💍 1911/1819

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

25 years
26 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

8 years
26 years

In the house of Mr J. Anderson, 10 William Street, Dunedin

11/1267

11 March 1911

D. J. Murray

No	121
Date of Notice	11 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Thomas Bremner	Margaret Gilmour Anderson
	💍 1911/1819
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	25 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	8 years	26 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr J. Anderson, 10 William Street, Dunedin
Folio	11/1267
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1911
Officiating Minister	D. J. Murray

122

11 March 1911

Leslie Robert Adcock
Alice Jemima Rowland

Leslie Robert Adcock
Alice Jemima Rowland
💍 1911/1813

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Saleswoman

31 years
25 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 years
5 years

In St. Peters Church, Caversham

11/1284

11 March 1911

B. M. King

No	122
Date of Notice	11 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leslie Robert Adcock	Alice Jemima Rowland
	💍 1911/1813
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Saleswoman
Age	31 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In St. Peters Church, Caversham
Folio	11/1284
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 March 1911
Officiating Minister	B. M. King

123

13 March 1911

David Swanson Pownceby
Emma Maude Pownceby

David Swanson
Emma Maude Pownceby
💍 1911/353

Bachelor
Spinster

Journalist

32 years
33 years

St. Kilda
St. Kilda

5 weeks
5 weeks

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin

11/1070

13 March 1911

H. Maxwell

No	123
Date of Notice	13 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Swanson Pownceby	Emma Maude Pownceby
BDM Match (80%)	David Swanson	Emma Maude Pownceby
	💍 1911/353
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Journalist
Age	32 years	33 years
Dwelling Place	St. Kilda	St. Kilda
Length of Residence	5 weeks	5 weeks
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dunedin
Folio	11/1070
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 March 1911
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell

124

13 March 1911

Henry Brown Lewis Brookes
Jane Eliza Lewis Brookes

Henry Brown
Jane Eliza Lewis Brookes
💍 1911/1710

Widower
Spinster

Labourer

33 years
17 years

Andersons Bay
Andersons Bay

10 months
17 years

In the house of Mrs G. A. L. Brookes, Andersons Bay

11/1256

George Alfred Lewis Brookes, guardian

13 March 1911

A. E. Axelson

No	124
Date of Notice	13 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Brown Lewis Brookes	Jane Eliza Lewis Brookes
BDM Match (72%)	Henry Brown	Jane Eliza Lewis Brookes
	💍 1911/1710
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	33 years	17 years
Dwelling Place	Andersons Bay	Andersons Bay
Length of Residence	10 months	17 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs G. A. L. Brookes, Andersons Bay
Folio	11/1256
Consent	George Alfred Lewis Brookes, guardian
Date of Certificate	13 March 1911
Officiating Minister	A. E. Axelson

125

14 March 1911

William Henry Murcott Laurenson
Margaret Carr Laurenson

William Henry Murcott
Margaret Carr Laurenson
💍 1911/1879

Bachelor
Spinster

Surveyor

44 years
23 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 days

In the house of Mrs C. J. Wood, 135 Rattray Street, Dunedin

11/1099

14 March 1911

D. C. Gellie

No	125
Date of Notice	14 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Murcott Laurenson	Margaret Carr Laurenson
BDM Match (84%)	William Henry Murcott	Margaret Carr Laurenson
	💍 1911/1879
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surveyor
Age	44 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs C. J. Wood, 135 Rattray Street, Dunedin
Folio	11/1099
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1911
Officiating Minister	D. C. Gellie

126

14 March 1911

Winston Barron
Louisa Roberts

Winston Netterville Barron
Louisa Roberts
💍 1911/1877

Bachelor
Spinster

Banker

40 years
36 years

Dunedin
Roslyn

3 days
36 years

In the house of Mr John Roberts, Littlebourne, Roslyn

11/1097

14 March 1911

R. E. Davies

No	126
Date of Notice	14 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Winston Barron	Louisa Roberts
BDM Match (77%)	Winston Netterville Barron	Louisa Roberts
	💍 1911/1877
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Banker
Age	40 years	36 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Roslyn
Length of Residence	3 days	36 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr John Roberts, Littlebourne, Roslyn
Folio	11/1097
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1911
Officiating Minister	R. E. Davies

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).