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 028

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 December 1911 Registrar William Winsbury White

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

607

20 December 1911

George Hudson Warrington Nicholls
Gladys Jane Heseltine

George Hudson Warrington Nicholls
Gladys Jane Heseltine
💍 1911/8786

Bachelor
Spinster

Plumber
Domestic duties

24
22

Dunedin
Ashburton

3 days
22 years

Baring Square Church

11/8800

20 December 1911

Rev. W. J. Elliott

No	607
Date of Notice	20 December 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Hudson Warrington Nicholls	Gladys Jane Heseltine
	💍 1911/8786
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plumber	Domestic duties
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	22 years
Marriage Place	Baring Square Church
Folio	11/8800
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Elliott

608

20 December 1911

Allan Thomas Webber
Josephine Mabel Buchanan

Allan Thomas Webber
Josephine Mabel Buchanan
💍 1912/2031

Bachelor
Spinster

Motor Engineer
Saleswoman

25
22

Ashburton
Ashburton

4 years
22 years

St. Stephens Church of England

12/1720

20 December 1911

Rev. E. Whitehouse

No	608
Date of Notice	20 December 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Allan Thomas Webber	Josephine Mabel Buchanan
	💍 1912/2031
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Motor Engineer	Saleswoman
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	4 years	22 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephens Church of England
Folio	12/1720
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 December 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Whitehouse

609

26 December 1911

Arthur Tait
Lilian Amy Bonnington

Arthur Rait
Lilian Amy Bonnington
💍 1911/8785

Bachelor
Spinster

Boat Maker
Saleswoman

23
23

Wellington
Ashburton

3 days
23 years

At the dwelling of Mary Ann Bonnington, 23 Peter Street, Ashburton

11/8799

26 December 1911

Rev. W. J. Elliott

No	609
Date of Notice	26 December 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Tait	Lilian Amy Bonnington
BDM Match (95%)	Arthur Rait	Lilian Amy Bonnington
	💍 1911/8785
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boat Maker	Saleswoman
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Wellington	Ashburton
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	At the dwelling of Mary Ann Bonnington, 23 Peter Street, Ashburton
Folio	11/8799
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 December 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. J. Elliott

610

27 December 1911

Aubrey Edward Clarke
Mary Richardson

Aubrey Edward Clarke
Mary Richardson
💍 1912/2030

Bachelor
Spinster

Drapers Assistant
Music Teacher

27
30

Ashburton
Allenton

3 years
30 years

St. Stephens Church of England

12/1719

27 December 1911

Rev. E. Whitehouse

No	610
Date of Notice	27 December 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Aubrey Edward Clarke	Mary Richardson
	💍 1912/2030
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Drapers Assistant	Music Teacher
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Allenton
Length of Residence	3 years	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Stephens Church of England
Folio	12/1719
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 December 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. E. Whitehouse

611

30 December 1911

David Richard Langford
Isabella Johnstone Burgess

David Richard Langford
Isabella Johnstone Burgess
💍 1912/1903

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic duties

27
21

Mayfield
Mayfield

10 years
21 years

The Manse, Mayfield

12/1540

30 December 1911

Rev. James Wilson

No	611
Date of Notice	30 December 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Richard Langford	Isabella Johnstone Burgess
	💍 1912/1903
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic duties
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Mayfield	Mayfield
Length of Residence	10 years	21 years
Marriage Place	The Manse, Mayfield
Folio	12/1540
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 December 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Wilson

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).