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 195

District of Palmerston North Quarter ending 30 June 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

13 April 1909

Andrew Percival Guthrie
Hilda Maud Chamberlain

Andrew Percival Guthrie
Hilda Maud Chamberlain
💍 1909/3379

Bachelor
Spinster

Slaughterman

26
22

Longburn
Longburn

4 days
22 years

House of Thomas Chamberlain, Longburn

09/4569

13 April 1909

Rev. J. J. Thomas, Methodist Minister

No	50
Date of Notice	13 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Percival Guthrie	Hilda Maud Chamberlain
	💍 1909/3379
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Slaughterman
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Longburn	Longburn
Length of Residence	4 days	22 years
Marriage Place	House of Thomas Chamberlain, Longburn
Folio	09/4569
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. J. Thomas, Methodist Minister

14 April 1909

Joseph Hodgens
Catherine Birch

Joseph Hodgins
Catherine Birch
💍 1909/2063

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Nurse

22
26

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

1 year
9 months

St. Patrick's Church, Palmerston North

09/2532

14 April 1909

Rev. P. C. Costello, Catholic Priest

No	51
Date of Notice	14 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Hodgens	Catherine Birch
BDM Match (96%)	Joseph Hodgins	Catherine Birch
	💍 1909/2063
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Nurse
Age	22	26
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	1 year	9 months
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Palmerston North
Folio	09/2532
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. Costello, Catholic Priest

17 April 1909

William Alfred Gamman
Annie Matilda Terry

William Alfred Gamman
Annie Matilda Terry
💍 1909/2074

Bachelor
Divorced

Sawmiller

42
32

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
3 days

Office of Registrar, Palmerston North

09/2520

17 April 1909

R. N. Keeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

No	52
Date of Notice	17 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Alfred Gamman	Annie Matilda Terry
	💍 1909/2074
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Sawmiller
Age	42	32
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Palmerston North
Folio	09/2520
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 April 1909
Officiating Minister	R. N. Keeling, Registrar, Palmerston North

19 April 1909

Thomas Joseph Perriam
Elizabeth Francis Holloway

Thomas Joseph Perriam
Elizabeth Frances Holloway
💍 1909/2064

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

24
17

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

4 years
4 years

St. Patrick's Church, Palmerston North

09/2533

Joseph Holloway, Father

19 April 1909

Rev. P. C. Costello, Catholic Priest

No	53
Date of Notice	19 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Joseph Perriam	Elizabeth Francis Holloway
BDM Match (98%)	Thomas Joseph Perriam	Elizabeth Frances Holloway
	💍 1909/2064
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	24	17
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	4 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Palmerston North
Folio	09/2533
Consent	Joseph Holloway, Father
Date of Certificate	19 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. Costello, Catholic Priest

20 April 1909

Jonathan Taylor Gilson
Florence Amelia Shaw

Jonathan Taylor Tilson
Florence Amelia Shaw
💍 1909/1486

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

29
28

Palmerston North
Aokautere

3 days
18 months

House of George Shaw, Aokautere

09/2543

20 April 1909

Rev. G. G. Harper, Anglican Minister

No	54
Date of Notice	20 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jonathan Taylor Gilson	Florence Amelia Shaw
BDM Match (98%)	Jonathan Taylor Tilson	Florence Amelia Shaw
	💍 1909/1486
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Aokautere
Length of Residence	3 days	18 months
Marriage Place	House of George Shaw, Aokautere
Folio	09/2543
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. G. Harper, Anglican Minister

20 April 1909

Henry Richard Packer
Bridget Jane O'Wagan

Henry Richard Packer
Bridget Jane OHagan
💍 1909/2065

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

30
37

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

3 days
10 years

House of Robert Mead, Palmerston North

09/2534

20 April 1909

Rev. P. C. Costello, Catholic Priest

No	55
Date of Notice	20 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Richard Packer	Bridget Jane O'Wagan
BDM Match (95%)	Henry Richard Packer	Bridget Jane OHagan
	💍 1909/2065
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	30	37
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	3 days	10 years
Marriage Place	House of Robert Mead, Palmerston North
Folio	09/2534
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. Costello, Catholic Priest

20 April 1909

Leonard Wischnewsky
Louise Marie Battsche

Leonard Wischnewsky
Louise Marrie Gattsche
💍 1909/2066

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter
Book Keeper

34
25

Palmerston North
Palmerston North

11 years
16 years

St. Patrick's Church, Palmerston North

09/2535

20 April 1909

Rev. P. C. Costello, Catholic Priest

No	56
Date of Notice	20 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Wischnewsky	Louise Marie Battsche
BDM Match (95%)	Leonard Wischnewsky	Louise Marrie Gattsche
	💍 1909/2066
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter	Book Keeper
Age	34	25
Dwelling Place	Palmerston North	Palmerston North
Length of Residence	11 years	16 years
Marriage Place	St. Patrick's Church, Palmerston North
Folio	09/2535
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. C. Costello, Catholic Priest

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).