Intentions to Marry, 1909 Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840441, 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 009

District of Ashburton Quarter ending 31 March 1909 Registrar William Winsbury White

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

354

13 January 1909

Vernon Douglas Smith
Edith Lovett

Vernon Douglas Smith
Edith Lovett
💍 1909/6638

Bachelor
Spinster

Farm Labourer
domestic duties

40
23

Mayfield
Mayfield

2 years
2 years

The dwelling of James Coskerie Mayfield

09/1307

13 January 1909

Rev. James Wilson (Presbyterian)

No	354
Date of Notice	13 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Vernon Douglas Smith	Edith Lovett
	💍 1909/6638
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farm Labourer	domestic duties
Age	40	23
Dwelling Place	Mayfield	Mayfield
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	The dwelling of James Coskerie Mayfield
Folio	09/1307
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. James Wilson (Presbyterian)

355

25 January 1909

Robert Coulter
Elizabeth Larmour

Robert Coulter
Elizabeth Larmour
💍 1909/7140

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

23
23

Ashburton
Ashburton

4 years
2 1/2 years

Presbyterian Church Ashburton

09/1403

25 January 1909

Rev. G.B. Inglis

No	355
Date of Notice	25 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Coulter	Elizabeth Larmour
	💍 1909/7140
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Ashburton	Ashburton
Length of Residence	4 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church Ashburton
Folio	09/1403
Consent
Date of Certificate	25 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. G.B. Inglis

356

27 January 1909

Leonard Hagerty
Clara Walker

Leonard Hagerty
Clara Walker
💍 1909/6662

George Kehely
Clara Walker
💍 1909/3032

Bachelor
Spinster

Jockey
domestic duties

24
19

Allenton
Hampstead

4 years
10 years

at the dwelling of Mrs Walker Hampstead Place

09/1340

Elizabeth Ann Walker Mother of Minor

27 January 1909

Rev. J.A. Brown

No	356
Date of Notice	27 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Leonard Hagerty	Clara Walker
	💍 1909/6662
BDM Match (67%)	George Kehely	Clara Walker
	💍 1909/3032
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Jockey	domestic duties
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Allenton	Hampstead
Length of Residence	4 years	10 years
Marriage Place	at the dwelling of Mrs Walker Hampstead Place
Folio	09/1340
Consent	Elizabeth Ann Walker Mother of Minor
Date of Certificate	27 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J.A. Brown

357

30 January 1909

Alexander Davidson
Mary Jane McKay

Alexander Davidson
Mary Jane McKay
💍 1909/2045

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
domestic duties

25
22

Eiffleton
Waterton

25 years
22 years

Roman Catholic Church Ashburton

09/3001

30 January 1909

Rev J.J. O'Donnell

No	357
Date of Notice	30 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Davidson	Mary Jane McKay
	💍 1909/2045
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	domestic duties
Age	25	22
Dwelling Place	Eiffleton	Waterton
Length of Residence	25 years	22 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Ashburton
Folio	09/3001
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev J.J. O'Donnell

358

9 February 1909

William James Tyler
Sarah Elizabeth Stevens

William James Tyler
Sarah Elizabeth Stevens
💍 1909/7109

Bachelor
Widow

Teamster
House Keeper

28
34

Longbeach
Waterton

12 Months
6 Months

Wesleyan Church Ashburton

09/1279

9 February 1909

Rev H.E. Bellhouse

No	358
Date of Notice	9 February 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Tyler	Sarah Elizabeth Stevens
	💍 1909/7109
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Teamster	House Keeper
Age	28	34
Dwelling Place	Longbeach	Waterton
Length of Residence	12 Months	6 Months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church Ashburton
Folio	09/1279
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 February 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev H.E. Bellhouse

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).