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 414

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

23 February 1911

Alexander Benjamin Stewart
Harriet Mabel Mitchell

Alexander Benjamin Stewart
Harriet Mabel Mitchell
💍 1911/4158

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

27
26

Roslyn
Maori Hill

4 years
6 years

In the house of Mr. I. Peat, Wakari, Maori Hill

11/3991

23 February 1911

Wm. Slay

No	93
Date of Notice	23 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Benjamin Stewart	Harriet Mabel Mitchell
	💍 1911/4158
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Maori Hill
Length of Residence	4 years	6 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. I. Peat, Wakari, Maori Hill
Folio	11/3991
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Wm. Slay

25 February 1911

Donald Spalding Passmore
Rachel Annan Passmore

Donald Spalding
Rachel Annan Passmore
💍 1911/1818

Bachelor
Spinster

Salesman

27
21

Dunedin
South Dunedin

22 years
21 years

In the Methodist Church, Wesley Street, South Dunedin

11/1266

25 February 1911

D. I. Murray

No	95
Date of Notice	25 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Spalding Passmore	Rachel Annan Passmore
BDM Match (81%)	Donald Spalding	Rachel Annan Passmore
	💍 1911/1818
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Salesman
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	22 years	21 years
Marriage Place	In the Methodist Church, Wesley Street, South Dunedin
Folio	11/1266
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1911
Officiating Minister	D. I. Murray

25 February 1911

Henry Edward Smith
Kate Woodward

Henry Edward Smith
Kate Woodward
💍 1911/1699

Widower
Spinster

Wool Scourer

56
26

North East Valley
North East Valley

3 days
13 years

In St. Martin's Church, North East Valley

11/1246

25 February 1911

H. Bedford

No	96
Date of Notice	25 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Edward Smith	Kate Woodward
	💍 1911/1699
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Wool Scourer
Age	56	26
Dwelling Place	North East Valley	North East Valley
Length of Residence	3 days	13 years
Marriage Place	In St. Martin's Church, North East Valley
Folio	11/1246
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 February 1911
Officiating Minister	H. Bedford

27 February 1911

Malcolm Campbell
Mary Jane Hadden

Malcolm Campbell
Mary Jane Madden
💍 1911/5318

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Laundress

26
25

Dunedin
North East Valley

4 days
13 years

In the Primitive Methodist Church, North East Valley

11/3952

27 February 1911

J. B. Suckling

No	97
Date of Notice	27 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Malcolm Campbell	Mary Jane Hadden
BDM Match (97%)	Malcolm Campbell	Mary Jane Madden
	💍 1911/5318
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Laundress
Age	26	25
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	North East Valley
Length of Residence	4 days	13 years
Marriage Place	In the Primitive Methodist Church, North East Valley
Folio	11/3952
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 February 1911
Officiating Minister	J. B. Suckling

27 February 1911

Alfred Goodman
Eveline Mary Dale

Alfred Goodman
Evelline Mary Dale
💍 1911/1880

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

20
20

South Dunedin
Dunedin

20 years
20 years

In the house of Mr. T. A. Dale, 466 Leith Street, Dunedin

11/1100

Annie Goodman, Mother; Thomas Alexander Dale, Father

27 February 1911

R. E. Davies

No	98
Date of Notice	27 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Goodman	Eveline Mary Dale
BDM Match (97%)	Alfred Goodman	Evelline Mary Dale
	💍 1911/1880
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	20	20
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	20 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. T. A. Dale, 466 Leith Street, Dunedin
Folio	11/1100
Consent	Annie Goodman, Mother; Thomas Alexander Dale, Father
Date of Certificate	27 February 1911
Officiating Minister	R. E. Davies

27 February 1911

Richard Henry Thomas Williams
May Marader Rasmussen

Richard Henry Thomas Williams
May Marader Rasmussen
💍 1911/1712

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer

35
29

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 years

In the house of the Rev. Wm. Saunders, 2 View Street, Dunedin

11/1258

28 February 1911

Wm. Saunders

No	99
Date of Notice	27 February 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Henry Thomas Williams	May Marader Rasmussen
	💍 1911/1712
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer
Age	35	29
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of the Rev. Wm. Saunders, 2 View Street, Dunedin
Folio	11/1258
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 February 1911
Officiating Minister	Wm. Saunders

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).