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 280

District of Timaru Quarter ending 31 March 1911 Registrar Alex Montgomery

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

8 March 1911

Henry Joseph Brewer
Charlotte Elizabeth Storrier

Henry Joseph Brewer
Charlotte Elizabeth Storrier
💍 1911/1942

Bachelor
Spinster

Storekeeper
Companion

25 years
22 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 days
20 years

Registrar's Office, Timaru

11/1445

8 March 1911

Alex Montgomery (Registrar)

No	26
Date of Notice	8 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Joseph Brewer	Charlotte Elizabeth Storrier
	💍 1911/1942
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storekeeper	Companion
Age	25 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	11/1445
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Alex Montgomery (Registrar)

14 March 1911

Edward Barnes
Alice Mary Patrick

Edward Barnes
Alice Mary Patrick
💍 1911/1943

Bachelor
Spinster

Traveller
Nil

24 years
24 years

Timaru
Timaru

14 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Timaru

11/1446

14 March 1911

Reuben Orwin, Deputy Registrar

No	27
Date of Notice	14 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Barnes	Alice Mary Patrick
	💍 1911/1943
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Traveller	Nil
Age	24 years	24 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	14 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	11/1446
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Reuben Orwin, Deputy Registrar

18 March 1911

William John Thomas
Marjory Emery

William John Thomas
Marjory Emery
💍 1911/1927

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
Domestic Servant

24 years
22 years

St Andrews
St Andrews

5 years
6 years

English Church, St Andrews

11/1454

18 March 1911

Rev. L. B. Brady, Church of England Clergyman

No	28
Date of Notice	18 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Thomas	Marjory Emery
	💍 1911/1927
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	24 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	St Andrews	St Andrews
Length of Residence	5 years	6 years
Marriage Place	English Church, St Andrews
Folio	11/1454
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. B. Brady, Church of England Clergyman

20 March 1911

Albert William Willis
Flora Annie Chalmers

Albert William Willis
Flora Annie Chalmers
💍 1911/1905

Bachelor
Spinster

Surgeon Dentist
Household duties

28 years
19 years

Timaru
Timaru

6 1/2 years
3 years

Presbyterian Church, Timaru

11/1406

Flora Allan Chalmers (Mother)

20 March 1911

Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

No	29
Date of Notice	20 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert William Willis	Flora Annie Chalmers
	💍 1911/1905
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Surgeon Dentist	Household duties
Age	28 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 1/2 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	11/1406
Consent	Flora Allan Chalmers (Mother)
Date of Certificate	20 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Macaulay Caldwell, Presbyterian Minister

21 March 1911

Archibald Montgomerie
Helena Maud Dalzell

Archibald Montgomerie
Helena Maud Dalzell
💍 1911/2010

Bachelor
Spinster

Civil Servant
Nil

34 years
29 years

Timaru
Timaru

6 weeks
6 weeks

St Mary's English Church, Timaru

11/1358

21 March 1911

Rev. Henry Williams, Church of England Clergyman

No	30
Date of Notice	21 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Archibald Montgomerie	Helena Maud Dalzell
	💍 1911/2010
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Civil Servant	Nil
Age	34 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	6 weeks	6 weeks
Marriage Place	St Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	11/1358
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Williams, Church of England Clergyman

22 March 1911

Thomas Henry Arthur Nague
Alice Nague

Thomas Henry Arthur Trezise Junior
Alice Vague
💍 1911/4088

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Household duties

24 years
23 years

Papaka Levels
Papaka Levels

3 days
10 years

Residence of Mr. Edmund Nague, Papaka Levels

11/3860

22 March 1911

Rev. C. McDonald, Presbyterian Minister

No	31
Date of Notice	22 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Henry Arthur Nague	Alice Nague
BDM Match (76%)	Thomas Henry Arthur Trezise Junior	Alice Vague
	💍 1911/4088
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Household duties
Age	24 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Papaka Levels	Papaka Levels
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Edmund Nague, Papaka Levels
Folio	11/3860
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. McDonald, Presbyterian Minister

22 March 1911

George Botton Dunford
Lilly Reeves

George Cotton Dunford
Lilly Reeves
💍 1911/2149

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Servant

33 years
25 years

Waimataitai
Waimataitai

4 months
10 months

Dwellinghouse of Mr. Frederick Bolton, Waimataitai

11/1602

22 March 1911

Rev. Jacob Featherston, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	32
Date of Notice	22 March 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Botton Dunford	Lilly Reeves
BDM Match (98%)	George Cotton Dunford	Lilly Reeves
	💍 1911/2149
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Servant
Age	33 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Waimataitai	Waimataitai
Length of Residence	4 months	10 months
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mr. Frederick Bolton, Waimataitai
Folio	11/1602
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 March 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. Jacob Featherston, Primitive Methodist Minister

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).