Intentions to Marry, 1917 Rangiora to Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840474, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1917 is bound in six volumes (a to f) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1917f contains pages 2197-2786, covering districts from Rangiora to Chatham Islands

Page 2397

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 December 1917 Registrar Maxwell

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

362

23 October 1917

John Cyril Nightingale
Rosie Brown

John Cyril Nightingale
Rosie Brown
💍 1917/5373

Bachelor
Spinster

Steward

24
21

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
3 years

Registrars Office Dunedin

4931

23 October 1917

H. Maxwell Acting Registrar

No	362
Date of Notice	23 October 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Cyril Nightingale	Rosie Brown
	💍 1917/5373
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Steward
Age	24	21
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Dunedin
Folio	4931
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1917
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell Acting Registrar

363

23 October 1917

William Curzon-Siggers
Edyth Maude Hertslet

William Curzon-Siggers
Edyth Maude Hertslet
💍 1917/5374

Widower 21 May 1916
Spinster

Clerk in Holy Orders

57
53

Dunedin
Dunedin

29 years
30 years

St. Matthew's Church Dunedin

4932

23 October 1917

V.G.B. King Ch. of England

No	363
Date of Notice	23 October 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Curzon-Siggers	Edyth Maude Hertslet
	💍 1917/5374
Condition	Widower 21 May 1916	Spinster
Profession	Clerk in Holy Orders
Age	57	53
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	29 years	30 years
Marriage Place	St. Matthew's Church Dunedin
Folio	4932
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1917
Officiating Minister	V.G.B. King Ch. of England

364

23 October 1917

John Murray
Isabella Russel Fraser

John Murray
Isabella Russel Fraser
💍 1917/8

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

56
41

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 days
14 years

House of Mr J. Cormack 11 Dick St. Dunedin

4933

23 October 1917

A. Greig Ch. of England

No	364
Date of Notice	23 October 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Murray	Isabella Russel Fraser
	💍 1917/8
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	56	41
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 days	14 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr J. Cormack 11 Dick St. Dunedin
Folio	4933
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 October 1917
Officiating Minister	A. Greig Ch. of England

365

23 October 1917

Patrick Francis Wilson
Marjorie Helen Guyton

Patrick Francis Wilson
Marjorie Helen Greyton
💍 1917/5375

Bachelor
Spinster

Soldier

18
22

Quarantine Island
West Harbour

18 years
14 years

House of Mr G. Guyton St. Leonards

4934

William Joseph Campbell Wilson (father)

23 October 1917

J. J. O'Reilly Roman Catholic

No	365
Date of Notice	23 October 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Patrick Francis Wilson	Marjorie Helen Guyton
BDM Match (95%)	Patrick Francis Wilson	Marjorie Helen Greyton
	💍 1917/5375
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Soldier
Age	18	22
Dwelling Place	Quarantine Island	West Harbour
Length of Residence	18 years	14 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr G. Guyton St. Leonards
Folio	4934
Consent	William Joseph Campbell Wilson (father)
Date of Certificate	23 October 1917
Officiating Minister	J. J. O'Reilly Roman Catholic

366

24 October 1917

Alexander Augustus Henry Oswin
Flora Cohen

Alexander Augustus Henry Oswin
Flora Cohen
💍 1917/5376

Widower 15 August 1915
Spinster

Warehouseman

55
32

Dunedin
Dunedin

20 years
32 years

Registrars Office Dunedin

4935

24 October 1917

H. Maxwell Acting Registrar

No	366
Date of Notice	24 October 1917
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Augustus Henry Oswin	Flora Cohen
	💍 1917/5376
Condition	Widower 15 August 1915	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman
Age	55	32
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	20 years	32 years
Marriage Place	Registrars Office Dunedin
Folio	4935
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 October 1917
Officiating Minister	H. Maxwell Acting Registrar

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).