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 688

District of Reefton Quarter ending 31 March 1909 Registrar Henry Smith

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

9 January 1909

Robert Stewart
Mary Absalom

Robert Stewart
Mary Absolom
💍 1909/1247

Widower
Widow

Presbyterian Minister
Domestic Duties

59
49

Greymouth
Reefton

16 years
1 week

The Residence of Henry Smith, Reefton

09/1101

9 January 1909

David Anderson

No	1
Date of Notice	9 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Stewart	Mary Absalom
BDM Match (96%)	Robert Stewart	Mary Absolom
	💍 1909/1247
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Presbyterian Minister	Domestic Duties
Age	59	49
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Reefton
Length of Residence	16 years	1 week
Marriage Place	The Residence of Henry Smith, Reefton
Folio	09/1101
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 January 1909
Officiating Minister	David Anderson

15 January 1909

David Miller
Christina Archer

David Miller Pettigrew
Christina Archer
💍 1909/1243

Bachelor
Spinster

Dredgehand
Domestic Duties

25
20

Capleston
Capleston

12 months
20 years

The Protestant Church, Capleston

09/1098

15 January 1909

David Calder

No	2
Date of Notice	15 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Miller	Christina Archer
BDM Match (77%)	David Miller Pettigrew	Christina Archer
	💍 1909/1243
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Dredgehand	Domestic Duties
Age	25	20
Dwelling Place	Capleston	Capleston
Length of Residence	12 months	20 years
Marriage Place	The Protestant Church, Capleston
Folio	09/1098
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 January 1909
Officiating Minister	David Calder

23 January 1909

Edward William Griffin
Ethel Breeze

Edward William Griffin
Ethel Breeze
💍 1909/1289

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic Duties

23
21

Globe Hill
Globe Hill

13 years
5 months

The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Reefton

09/1105

23 January 1909

Henry Smith, Registrar

No	3
Date of Notice	23 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward William Griffin	Ethel Breeze
	💍 1909/1289
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic Duties
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Globe Hill	Globe Hill
Length of Residence	13 years	5 months
Marriage Place	The Office of the Registrar of Marriages, Reefton
Folio	09/1105
Consent
Date of Certificate	23 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Henry Smith, Registrar

28 January 1909

David Llewellyn Williams
Clara Blackadder

David Llewellyn Williams
Clara Blackadder
💍 1909/1245

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

29
22

Dunollie
Reefton

3 days
20 years

The Residence of Mr. David Blackadder, Reefton

09/1099

28 January 1909

David Calder

No	4
Date of Notice	28 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Llewellyn Williams	Clara Blackadder
	💍 1909/1245
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	29	22
Dwelling Place	Dunollie	Reefton
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. David Blackadder, Reefton
Folio	09/1099
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 January 1909
Officiating Minister	David Calder

2 February 1909

Ernest William Addison
Margaret Harris

Ernest William Addison
Margaret Harris
💍 1909/1246

Bachelor
Widow

Saddler
Domestic Duties

27
34

Reefton
Reefton

2 years
20 years

Residence of Mrs. Harris, Broadway, Reefton

09/1100

2 February 1909

David Calder

No	5
Date of Notice	2 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest William Addison	Margaret Harris
	💍 1909/1246
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Saddler	Domestic Duties
Age	27	34
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Harris, Broadway, Reefton
Folio	09/1100
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 February 1909
Officiating Minister	David Calder

20 February 1909

Thomas Francis Moran
Bessie Muir

Thomas Francis Moray
Bessie Muir
💍 1909/3689

Widower
Spinster

Engineer
Domestic Duties

33
29

Crushington
Crushington

4 months
3 days

Roman Catholic Church, Reefton

09/4986

20 February 1909

A. Galerne

No	6
Date of Notice	20 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Francis Moran	Bessie Muir
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Francis Moray	Bessie Muir
	💍 1909/3689
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Domestic Duties
Age	33	29
Dwelling Place	Crushington	Crushington
Length of Residence	4 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Reefton
Folio	09/4986
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1909
Officiating Minister	A. Galerne

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).