Intentions to Marry, 1909 Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840440, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1909 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay (1909a), Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1909b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1909c).

Page 083

District of Foxton Quarter ending 31 December 1909 Registrar N.D. Clemett

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

11 October 1909

Frank Roberts
Ima Rhoda Ross

Frank Roberts
Ilma Rhoda Ross
💍 1909/5070

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

29
32

Glenoroua
Palmerston North

2 months
7 days

Church of England, Palmerston North

09/6584

11 December 1909

Rev. J. Harper

No	61
Date of Notice	11 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Roberts	Ima Rhoda Ross
BDM Match (97%)	Frank Roberts	Ilma Rhoda Ross
	💍 1909/5070
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	32
Dwelling Place	Glenoroua	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	2 months	7 days
Marriage Place	Church of England, Palmerston North
Folio	09/6584
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 December 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Harper

16 October 1909

William Henry Coley
Elizabeth Jarman

William Henry Coley
Elizabeth Jarman
💍 1909/5489

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servants

26
21

Foxton
Foxton

26 years
7 years

All Saints Anglican Church, Foxton

09/6977

Rev. G. Young Woodward

No	62
Date of Notice	16 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Coley	Elizabeth Jarman
	💍 1909/5489
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servants
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Foxton	Foxton
Length of Residence	26 years	7 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Anglican Church, Foxton
Folio	09/6977
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Young Woodward

22 November 1909

Frederick Alfred Williams
Louisa Lobb

Fredrick Alfred Williams
Louisa Lobb
💍 1909/5020

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

27
26

Moutoa
Moutoa

10 months
10 years

Private House of A. H. Campbell, Moutoa

09/6534

Rev. G. K. Aitken

No	63
Date of Notice	22 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Alfred Williams	Louisa Lobb
BDM Match (98%)	Fredrick Alfred Williams	Louisa Lobb
	💍 1909/5020
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	27	26
Dwelling Place	Moutoa	Moutoa
Length of Residence	10 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Private House of A. H. Campbell, Moutoa
Folio	09/6534
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. K. Aitken

11 December 1909

Joseph Frances Macedo
Dora Ethel Wright

Joseph Francis Macedo
Dora Ethel Wright
💍 1909/5493

Widower
Spinster

Photographer
Domestic Duties

37
28

Feilding
Foxton

7 years
4 weeks

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Feilding

09/6981

Rev. Father Kelly

No	64
Date of Notice	11 December 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Frances Macedo	Dora Ethel Wright
BDM Match (98%)	Joseph Francis Macedo	Dora Ethel Wright
	💍 1909/5493
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Photographer	Domestic Duties
Age	37	28
Dwelling Place	Feilding	Foxton
Length of Residence	7 years	4 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Feilding
Folio	09/6981
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Kelly

11 December 1909

Robert Thos. Rand
Agnes Elizabeth Gay

Robert Thomas Rand
Agnes Elizabeth Gay
💍 1909/5490

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Servant

20
25

Foxton
Foxton

20 years
2 years

All Saints Anglican Church, Foxton

09/6978

Robt. Rand, father of groom

Rev. G. Young Woodward

No	65
Date of Notice	11 December 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Thos. Rand	Agnes Elizabeth Gay
BDM Match (92%)	Robert Thomas Rand	Agnes Elizabeth Gay
	💍 1909/5490
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Servant
Age	20	25
Dwelling Place	Foxton	Foxton
Length of Residence	20 years	2 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Anglican Church, Foxton
Folio	09/6978
Consent	Robt. Rand, father of groom
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Young Woodward

11 December 1909

Albert John Devonshire
Isabella Broughton

Albert John Devonshire
Isabella Broughton
💍 1909/5492

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

21
17

Koputarua
Levin

12 months
11 years

Office of The Registrar, Foxton

09/6980

Isabella Broughton

Registrar of Marriages, Foxton

No	66
Date of Notice	11 December 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert John Devonshire	Isabella Broughton
	💍 1909/5492
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	21	17
Dwelling Place	Koputarua	Levin
Length of Residence	12 months	11 years
Marriage Place	Office of The Registrar, Foxton
Folio	09/6980
Consent	Isabella Broughton
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Registrar of Marriages, Foxton

18 December 1909

William Petrie
Theda Fancy Collins

William Petrie
Hilda Fanny Collins
💍 1909/5491

Bachelor
Spinster

Hemp Grader
Domestic Duties

29
31

Foxton
Foxton

2 years
31 years

All Saints Anglican Church, Foxton

09/6979

Rev. G. Young Woodward

No	67
Date of Notice	18 December 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Petrie	Theda Fancy Collins
BDM Match (89%)	William Petrie	Hilda Fanny Collins
	💍 1909/5491
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hemp Grader	Domestic Duties
Age	29	31
Dwelling Place	Foxton	Foxton
Length of Residence	2 years	31 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Anglican Church, Foxton
Folio	09/6979
Consent
Date of Certificate
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. Young Woodward

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).