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 204

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 31 December 1909 Registrar Robert North Keeling

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

110

5 October 1909

Norman McLean
Ruth Ardell

Norman McLean
Ruth Ardell
💍 1909/5082

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Waitress

23
19

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

6 months
3 years

House of Mrs W. Rawlins, Palmerston North

09/6595

John Ardell, Father

5 October 1909

Rev. D. Hird, Congregational Minister

No	110
Date of Notice	5 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Norman McLean	Ruth Ardell
	💍 1909/5082
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Waitress
Age	23	19
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	6 months	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Mrs W. Rawlins, Palmerston North
Folio	09/6595
Consent	John Ardell, Father
Date of Certificate	5 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Hird, Congregational Minister

111

6 October 1909

Charles Egerton Sutton
Julia Lena Lister

Bachelor
Spinster

Dentist

23
23

Palmerston North
Nelson

3 years
5 years

All Saints Church, Nelson

09/11010

6 October 1909

Rev. W. S. Lucas, Anglican Minister

No	111
Date of Notice	6 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Egerton Sutton	Julia Lena Lister
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dentist
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Nelson
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Nelson
Folio	09/11010
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Lucas, Anglican Minister

112

6 October 1909

Arthur Horace Whitehead
Annie Evelyne Jacoby

Arthur Horace Whitehead
Annie Evelyne Tuohy
💍 1909/5080

Bachelor
Spinster

Mechanical Engineer

27
25

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

9 months
3 years

St. Patrick's Church, Palmerston North

09/6593

6 October 1909

Rev. P. C. Costello, Catholic Priest

No	112
Date of Notice	6 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Horace Whitehead	Annie Evelyne Jacoby
BDM Match (90%)	Arthur Horace Whitehead	Annie Evelyne Tuohy
	💍 1909/5080
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mechanical Engineer
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	9 months	3 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Palmerston North
Folio	09/6593
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. Costello, Catholic Priest

113

8 October 1909

William Frederick Collier
Edith Alice Winter

William Frederick Collier
Edith Alice Winter
💍 1909/5069

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Dressmaker

26
28

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
30 months

All Saints Church, Palmerston North

09/6583

8 October 1909

Rev. C. C. Harper, Palmerston North

No	113
Date of Notice	8 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Frederick Collier	Edith Alice Winter
	💍 1909/5069
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Dressmaker
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	30 months
Marriage Place	All Saints Church, Palmerston North
Folio	09/6583
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. C. Harper, Palmerston North

114

8 October 1909

Alfred Karl Poutzbach
Jessie Gordon Levy

Alfred Karl Butzbach
Jessie Gordon Levy
💍 1909/5068

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

27
24

Palmerston North
Kairanga

5 years
24 months

House of Voss, Kairanga

09/6582

8 October 1909

Rev. M. Christensen, Lutheran Minister

No	114
Date of Notice	8 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Karl Poutzbach	Jessie Gordon Levy
BDM Match (95%)	Alfred Karl Butzbach	Jessie Gordon Levy
	💍 1909/5068
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Kairanga
Length of Residence	5 years	24 months
Marriage Place	House of Voss, Kairanga
Folio	09/6582
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. M. Christensen, Lutheran Minister

115

12 October 1909

Andrew William Godbar
Isabel Casserow

Bachelor
Spinster

Groom
Domestic Service

24
24

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

5 years
3 years

Registrar's Office, Palmerston North

09/6596

12 October 1909

R. N. Keeling, Registrar

No	115
Date of Notice	12 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew William Godbar	Isabel Casserow
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Groom	Domestic Service
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	5 years	3 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Palmerston North
Folio	09/6596
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 October 1909
Officiating Minister	R. N. Keeling, Registrar

116

20 October 1909

James William Donald
Mary Ann Powell

James William Donald
Mary Ann Powell
💍 1909/5086

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
30

Bunnythorpe
Palmerston North

10 years
3 years

House of Mr E. Powell, Palmerston North

09/6576

20 October 1909

Rev. G. W. J. Spence, Methodist Minister

No	116
Date of Notice	20 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James William Donald	Mary Ann Powell
	💍 1909/5086
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	30
Dwelling Place	Bunnythorpe	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	10 years	3 years
Marriage Place	House of Mr E. Powell, Palmerston North
Folio	09/6576
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. J. Spence, Methodist Minister

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

100% Contrast

100% Brightness

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).