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 569

District of Ahaura Quarter ending 30 September 1909 Registrar E. C. Rickard

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

26 July 1909

James Jude
Amnial Comich
formerly Ford

James Jude
Arminal Cornish
💍 1909/3808

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Domestic Duties

32
26

Blackhall
Blackhall

9 months
6 years

English Church Ahaura

09/5031

26 July 1909

Rev. Y. Taylor, Anglican Minister, Runanga

No	7
Date of Notice	26 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Jude	Amnial Comich formerly Ford
BDM Match (80%)	James Jude	Arminal Cornish
	💍 1909/3808
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	32	26
Dwelling Place	Blackhall	Blackhall
Length of Residence	9 months	6 years
Marriage Place	English Church Ahaura
Folio	09/5031
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 July 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Y. Taylor, Anglican Minister, Runanga

3 August 1909

James Wilson
Frances Mary Stevens

James Wilson
Francis Marion Stevens
💍 1909/8021

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Duties

26
19

Blackball
Blackball

2 years
3.5 years

Roman Catholic Church

09/5707

Father

3 August 1909

Rev. Father A. Goodman, Ahaura

No	8
Date of Notice	3 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Wilson	Frances Mary Stevens
BDM Match (91%)	James Wilson	Francis Marion Stevens
	💍 1909/8021
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Duties
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Blackball	Blackball
Length of Residence	2 years	3.5 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church
Folio	09/5707
Consent	Father
Date of Certificate	3 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father A. Goodman, Ahaura

19 August 1909

Thomas Tracy Kinsella
Mary Norah Molloy

Thomas Tracy Kinnella
Mary Norah Molley
💍 1909/5729

Bachelor
Spinster

Hotelkeeper
Dressmaker

39
31

Blackball
Reefton

30 years
31 years

Roman Catholic Church, Blackball

09/7134

19 August 1909

Rev. Father Maypous, Ahaura

No	9
Date of Notice	19 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Tracy Kinsella	Mary Norah Molloy
BDM Match (95%)	Thomas Tracy Kinnella	Mary Norah Molley
	💍 1909/5729
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Hotelkeeper	Dressmaker
Age	39	31
Dwelling Place	Blackball	Reefton
Length of Residence	30 years	31 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Blackball
Folio	09/7134
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Maypous, Ahaura

24 August 1909

Matthew Bennie
Lillian Rose Wootten

Matthew Bennie
Lillian Rose Woolten
💍 1909/3741

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic Duties

27
20

Runanga
Blackball

4 years
10 years

English Church

09/5013

William Rundle Wootten (Father)

24 August 1909

Rev. Thos. Taylor, Anglican Clergyman, Runanga

No	10
Date of Notice	24 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Matthew Bennie	Lillian Rose Wootten
BDM Match (98%)	Matthew Bennie	Lillian Rose Woolten
	💍 1909/3741
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic Duties
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Runanga	Blackball
Length of Residence	4 years	10 years
Marriage Place	English Church
Folio	09/5013
Consent	William Rundle Wootten (Father)
Date of Certificate	24 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Taylor, Anglican Clergyman, Runanga

28 August 1909

Simpson Allan Auld
Violet Maria Sherman

Simpson Allan Auld
Violet Martha Sherman
💍 1909/3722

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

26
21

Blackball
Blackball

5 years
15 years

Office of Registrar Ahaura

09/4908

28 August 1909

E. C. Rickard, Registrar of B.W.H. Ahaura

No	11
Date of Notice	28 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Simpson Allan Auld	Violet Maria Sherman
BDM Match (95%)	Simpson Allan Auld	Violet Martha Sherman
	💍 1909/3722
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Blackball	Blackball
Length of Residence	5 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar Ahaura
Folio	09/4908
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 August 1909
Officiating Minister	E. C. Rickard, Registrar of B.W.H. Ahaura

4 September 1909

Ernest Arthur Kirby
Clara Elizabeth O'Donnell

Ernest Arthur Kirby
Clara Elizabeth O'Donnell
💍 1909/3809

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher
Domestic Duties

22
19

Blackwater
Blackwater

1.5 years
2 years

Residence of Mr. A. O'Donnell situated at Blackwater

09/5032

Anne O'Donnell (Mother)

4 September 1909

Rev. P. A. Galerue, Reefton

No	12
Date of Notice	4 September 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Arthur Kirby	Clara Elizabeth O'Donnell
	💍 1909/3809
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher	Domestic Duties
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Blackwater	Blackwater
Length of Residence	1.5 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. A. O'Donnell situated at Blackwater
Folio	09/5032
Consent	Anne O'Donnell (Mother)
Date of Certificate	4 September 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. A. Galerue, Reefton

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).