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 142

District of Ellesmere Quarter ending 31 December 1909 Registrar J. E. Carter

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

13/09

4 October 1909

Henry Ernest Chamberlain
Sarah Ann Mawson

Henry Ernest Chamberlain
Sarah Ann Mawson
💍 1909/6485

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

25
42

Ellesmere
Irwell

1 day less
42 years

Church Christchurch Brookside

09/8122

4 October 1909

Rev. C. Gordon Biddle

No	13/09
Date of Notice	4 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Ernest Chamberlain	Sarah Ann Mawson
	💍 1909/6485
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	42
Dwelling Place	Ellesmere	Irwell
Length of Residence	1 day less	42 years
Marriage Place	Church Christchurch Brookside
Folio	09/8122
Consent
Date of Certificate	4 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Gordon Biddle

14/09

30 October 1909

John Latimer Thoroughgood
Rebecca Montgomery

John Latimer Thoroughgood
Rebecca Montgomery
💍 1909/6172

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

28
27

Dunsandel
Southbridge

18 months
27 years

Church

09/1427

30 October 1909

Rev. Henry Williams

No	14/09
Date of Notice	30 October 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Latimer Thoroughgood	Rebecca Montgomery
	💍 1909/6172
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Dunsandel	Southbridge
Length of Residence	18 months	27 years
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	09/1427
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 October 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Williams

15/09

5 November 1909

Alexander Freeman
Emma Elizabeth Hintz

Alexander Freeman
Emma Elizabeth Hintz
💍 1909/6171

Bachelor
Spinster

Fisherman
Domestic Duties

32
18

Sedgemere
Lakeside

1 year
18 years

Church

09/1426

Caroline Freeman, mother

5 November 1909

Rev. Henry Williams

No	15/09
Date of Notice	5 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Freeman	Emma Elizabeth Hintz
	💍 1909/6171
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Fisherman	Domestic Duties
Age	32	18
Dwelling Place	Sedgemere	Lakeside
Length of Residence	1 year	18 years
Marriage Place	Church
Folio	09/1426
Consent	Caroline Freeman, mother
Date of Certificate	5 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Henry Williams

16/09

15 November 1909

Thomas McCarton
Ellen McCleary

Thomas McCarten
Ellen McCleary
💍 1909/6150

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

30
31

Brookside
Leeston

1 month
12 months

Roman Catholic Church Leeston

09/1430

15 November 1909

Rev. Father Hills

No	16/09
Date of Notice	15 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas McCarton	Ellen McCleary
BDM Match (97%)	Thomas McCarten	Ellen McCleary
	💍 1909/6150
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	30	31
Dwelling Place	Brookside	Leeston
Length of Residence	1 month	12 months
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church Leeston
Folio	09/1430
Consent
Date of Certificate	15 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father Hills

17/09

30 November 1909

John William Thomas Knight
Annie Garters

John William Thomas Knight
Annie Garters
💍 1909/6169

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

26
28

Doyleston
Doyleston

26 years
4 years

Wesleyan Sunday School Doyleston

09/1424

30 November 1909

Rev. J. A. Loughnan

No	17/09
Date of Notice	30 November 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John William Thomas Knight	Annie Garters
	💍 1909/6169
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	26	28
Dwelling Place	Doyleston	Doyleston
Length of Residence	26 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Sunday School Doyleston
Folio	09/1424
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 November 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Loughnan

18/09

14 December 1909

Francis Holden Mathews
Elizabeth Johnson

Francis Holden Mathews
Elizabeth Tolerton
💍 1909/6170

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk
Domestic Duties

33
33

Christchurch
Killinchy

15 years
33 years

Church Christchurch

09/1425

14 December 1909

Rev. H. G. Hawkins

No	18/09
Date of Notice	14 December 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Holden Mathews	Elizabeth Johnson
BDM Match (86%)	Francis Holden Mathews	Elizabeth Tolerton
	💍 1909/6170
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk	Domestic Duties
Age	33	33
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Killinchy
Length of Residence	15 years	33 years
Marriage Place	Church Christchurch
Folio	09/1425
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 December 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. G. Hawkins

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).