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 692

District of Reefton Quarter ending 30 September 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

5 July 1909

Charles Makinson Preshaw
Maria Eliza Coombe

Charles Makinson Preshaw
Maria Eliza Coombe
💍 1909/3708

Bachelor
Widow

Miner
Domestic duties

41
42

Reefton
Reefton

3 days
30 years

The residence of Mr. J. Banks, Reefton

09/4981

5 July 1909

Rev. F. Quintrell

No	20
Date of Notice	5 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Makinson Preshaw	Maria Eliza Coombe
	💍 1909/3708
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	41	42
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	3 days	30 years
Marriage Place	The residence of Mr. J. Banks, Reefton
Folio	09/4981
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Quintrell

4 August 1909

John Sydney Herbert Durward
Louisa Ruth Nicholas

John Sydney Herbert Durward
Louisa Ruth Nicholas
💍 1909/3709

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

25
29

Crushington
Black's Point

8 months
3 days

Anglican Church, Reefton

09/4982

4 August 1909

Rev. F. Quintrell

No	21
Date of Notice	4 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Sydney Herbert Durward	Louisa Ruth Nicholas
	💍 1909/3709
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	25	29
Dwelling Place	Crushington	Black's Point
Length of Residence	8 months	3 days
Marriage Place	Anglican Church, Reefton
Folio	09/4982
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. F. Quintrell

9 August 1909

Robert Henry Carroll
Margaret Jane O'Brien

Robert Henry Carroll
Margaret Jane O'Brien
💍 1909/3710

Bachelor
Spinster

Boilermaker
Domestic duties

29
28

Greymouth
Reefton

3 days
2 weeks

Roman Catholic Church, Reefton

09/4983

9 August 1909

Rev. A. Galerne

No	22
Date of Notice	9 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Henry Carroll	Margaret Jane O'Brien
	💍 1909/3710
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Boilermaker	Domestic duties
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Reefton
Length of Residence	3 days	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Reefton
Folio	09/4983
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Galerne

9 August 1909

John Martin Francis Rogers
Frances Ashton Stephen

John Martin Francis Rogers
Frances Ashton Stephens
💍 1909/3687

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic duties

43
30

Capleston
Capleston

32 years
2 years

At the residence of Mrs. L. A. Rogers, Capleston

09/4984

9 August 1909

Rev. A. Galerne

No	23
Date of Notice	9 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Martin Francis Rogers	Frances Ashton Stephen
BDM Match (98%)	John Martin Francis Rogers	Frances Ashton Stephens
	💍 1909/3687
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic duties
Age	43	30
Dwelling Place	Capleston	Capleston
Length of Residence	32 years	2 years
Marriage Place	At the residence of Mrs. L. A. Rogers, Capleston
Folio	09/4984
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Galerne

8 September 1909

William Thomas Watson
Lily Alberta Moyle

William Thomas Watson
Lily Alberta Moyle
💍 1909/5745

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

26
19

Black's Point
Black's Point

3 years
17 years

Methodist Church, Black's Point

09/7126

Obadiah Moyle, Father

8 September 1909

Rev. T. W. Newbold

No	24
Date of Notice	8 September 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Watson	Lily Alberta Moyle
	💍 1909/5745
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Black's Point	Black's Point
Length of Residence	3 years	17 years
Marriage Place	Methodist Church, Black's Point
Folio	09/7126
Consent	Obadiah Moyle, Father
Date of Certificate	8 September 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. W. Newbold

28 September 1909

George Harley
Sarah Mary Malloy

George Harley
Sarah Mary Malloy
💍 1909/3688

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic duties

28
21 1/2

Reefton
Reefton

2 years
20 years

Roman Catholic Church, Reefton

09/4985

28 September 1909

Rev. A. Galerne

No	25
Date of Notice	28 September 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Harley	Sarah Mary Malloy
	💍 1909/3688
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic duties
Age	28	21 1/2
Dwelling Place	Reefton	Reefton
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Reefton
Folio	09/4985
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 September 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Galerne

29 September 1909

Henry Thomas Jones
Florence Maud Morison

Henry Thomas Jones
Florence Maud Morison
💍 1909/5746

Bachelor
Spinster

Battery-hand
Domestic duties

22
21

Crushington
Reefton

5 years
6 years

Residence of Mr. Sheppard, Main Street, Reefton

09/7127

29 September 1909

Rev. D. Calder

No	26
Date of Notice	29 September 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Thomas Jones	Florence Maud Morison
	💍 1909/5746
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Battery-hand	Domestic duties
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Crushington	Reefton
Length of Residence	5 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mr. Sheppard, Main Street, Reefton
Folio	09/7127
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 September 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Calder

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).