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 146

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 30 June 1909 Registrar Agnes Andrews

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

793

3 April 1909

Robert Allan
Mary Elizabeth McGartland

Robert Allan
Mary Elizabeth McGartland
💍 1909/2186

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Domestic Servant

27
24

Woodbury
Woodbury Road

10 years
3 months

The House of Mr. Frederick Robertson, Woodbury Road

09/3241

3 April 1909

Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

No	793
Date of Notice	3 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Allan	Mary Elizabeth McGartland
	💍 1909/2186
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Domestic Servant
Age	27	24
Dwelling Place	Woodbury	Woodbury Road
Length of Residence	10 years	3 months
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. Frederick Robertson, Woodbury Road
Folio	09/3241
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. Bruce Todd, Presbyterian

794

12 April 1909

Charles Edward Martin Crosby
Edith Grimshaw

Charles Edward Martin Crosby
Edith Scrimshaw
💍 1909/2187

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman
Domestic Duties

37
34

Geraldine
Geraldine

3 days
1 month

St. Mary's Church

09/3242

12 April 1909

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	794
Date of Notice	12 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles Edward Martin Crosby	Edith Grimshaw
BDM Match (93%)	Charles Edward Martin Crosby	Edith Scrimshaw
	💍 1909/2187
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman	Domestic Duties
Age	37	34
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 days	1 month
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church
Folio	09/3242
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

795

21 April 1909

William Wills Seward
Ethel Annie Brenton

William Wills Seward
Ethel Annie Brenton
💍 1909/2119

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

28
28

Belfield Orari
Belfield Orari

10 years
28 years

Primitive Methodist Church

09/3248

21 April 1909

Rev. George G. Mann, Primitive Methodist

No	795
Date of Notice	21 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Wills Seward	Ethel Annie Brenton
	💍 1909/2119
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Belfield Orari	Belfield Orari
Length of Residence	10 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church
Folio	09/3248
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. George G. Mann, Primitive Methodist

796

26 April 1909

John Bartlett Newton
Georgina Ellen Freyer

John Bartlett Newton
Georgina Ellen Freyer
💍 1909/2188

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Tailoress

37
33

Geraldine
Geraldine

3 days
12 days

St. Mary's Church

09/3243

26 April 1909

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	796
Date of Notice	26 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Bartlett Newton	Georgina Ellen Freyer
	💍 1909/2188
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Tailoress
Age	37	33
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 days	12 days
Marriage Place	St. Mary's Church
Folio	09/3243
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

797

12 May 1909

John Riches
Dora Hall

John Riches
Dora Hall
💍 1909/2111

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

24
19

Beautiful Valley
Gapes' Valley

4 years
1 month

The House of Mr. Thomas Hall, Gapes' Valley

09/3245

Thomas Hall, Father

12 May 1909

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	797
Date of Notice	12 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Riches	Dora Hall
	💍 1909/2111
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	24	19
Dwelling Place	Beautiful Valley	Gapes' Valley
Length of Residence	4 years	1 month
Marriage Place	The House of Mr. Thomas Hall, Gapes' Valley
Folio	09/3245
Consent	Thomas Hall, Father
Date of Certificate	12 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

798

17 May 1909

Edward Gordon Williams
Judith Mary Empson

Edward Gordon Williams
Judith Mary Simpson
💍 1909/2100

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

28
21

Mount Peel
Mount Peel

3 days
2 weeks

Church of Holy Innocents

09/3244

17 May 1909

Ven. Henry W. Harper, Church of England

No	798
Date of Notice	17 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Gordon Williams	Judith Mary Empson
BDM Match (95%)	Edward Gordon Williams	Judith Mary Simpson
	💍 1909/2100
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Mount Peel	Mount Peel
Length of Residence	3 days	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Church of Holy Innocents
Folio	09/3244
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Ven. Henry W. Harper, Church of England

799

20 May 1909

Ernest Henry Waller
Esther Maud Jones

Ernest Henry Waller
Esther Maude Jones
💍 1909/2117

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Cook

26
22

Gapes' Valley
Waitahuna Bush

4 months
2 months

The Home of Mr. John William Jones, Waitahuna Bush

09/3226

20 May 1909

Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

No	799
Date of Notice	20 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ernest Henry Waller	Esther Maud Jones
BDM Match (97%)	Ernest Henry Waller	Esther Maude Jones
	💍 1909/2117
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Cook
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Gapes' Valley	Waitahuna Bush
Length of Residence	4 months	2 months
Marriage Place	The Home of Mr. John William Jones, Waitahuna Bush
Folio	09/3226
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 May 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton, Church of England

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).