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 149

District of Geraldine Quarter ending 30 September 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

803

22 July 1909

John Douglas Scobie
Martha Garrard

John Douglas Scobie
Martha Garrard
💍 1909/3941

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

25
28

Belfield, Orari
Orari

2 months
28 years

Church of Holy Trinity, Orari

09/5273

22 July 1909

Rev. Staples Hamilton (Church of England)

No	803
Date of Notice	22 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Douglas Scobie	Martha Garrard
	💍 1909/3941
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Belfield, Orari	Orari
Length of Residence	2 months	28 years
Marriage Place	Church of Holy Trinity, Orari
Folio	09/5273
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton (Church of England)

804

3 August 1909

William James Bowers
Ethel Rose Wood

William James Howens
Ethel Rose Wood
💍 1909/3947

Bachelor
Spinster

Watchmaker
Domestic Duties

26
19

Geraldine
Geraldine

6 years
6 years

The House of Mrs. Martha Jane Hanson, Geraldine

09/5278

Martha Jane Hanson, Mother

3 August 1909

Rev. George H. Mann (Primitive Methodist)

No	804
Date of Notice	3 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Bowers	Ethel Rose Wood
BDM Match (95%)	William James Howens	Ethel Rose Wood
	💍 1909/3947
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Watchmaker	Domestic Duties
Age	26	19
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	6 years	6 years
Marriage Place	The House of Mrs. Martha Jane Hanson, Geraldine
Folio	09/5278
Consent	Martha Jane Hanson, Mother
Date of Certificate	3 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. George H. Mann (Primitive Methodist)

805

3 August 1909

Cornelius Connolly
Annie Freil

Cornelius Connolly
Annie Friel
💍 1909/3940

Widower
Spinster

Stock Agent
Domestic Duties

30
32

Geraldine
Hilton

3 years
11 years

Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine

09/5272

3 August 1909

Very Rev. H. G. Bowers (Roman Catholic)

No	805
Date of Notice	3 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cornelius Connolly	Annie Freil
BDM Match (91%)	Cornelius Connolly	Annie Friel
	💍 1909/3940
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Stock Agent	Domestic Duties
Age	30	32
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Hilton
Length of Residence	3 years	11 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Geraldine
Folio	09/5272
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Very Rev. H. G. Bowers (Roman Catholic)

806

13 August 1909

Francis Rae
Ethel May Spurden

Francis Rae
Ethel May Spurden
💍 1909/3942

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd
Housemaid

26
22

Peel Forest
Peel Forest

26 years
2 weeks

Church of England, Peel Forest

09/5274

13 August 1909

Rev. Staples Hamilton (Church of England)

No	806
Date of Notice	13 August 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Francis Rae	Ethel May Spurden
	💍 1909/3942
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd	Housemaid
Age	26	22
Dwelling Place	Peel Forest	Peel Forest
Length of Residence	26 years	2 weeks
Marriage Place	Church of England, Peel Forest
Folio	09/5274
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 August 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Staples Hamilton (Church of England)

807

2 September 1909

Robert Pizzey
Fanny Cambra Payment

Robert Pizzey
Fanny Amelia Payne
💍 1909/3949

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

23
24

Orari Station Road, Orari
The Pines, Geraldine, Orari

10 years
4 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Geraldine

09/5280

2 September 1909

Rev. George H. Mann (Primitive Methodist)

No	807
Date of Notice	2 September 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Pizzey	Fanny Cambra Payment
BDM Match (80%)	Robert Pizzey	Fanny Amelia Payne
	💍 1909/3949
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Orari Station Road, Orari	The Pines, Geraldine, Orari
Length of Residence	10 years	4 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Geraldine
Folio	09/5280
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 September 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. George H. Mann (Primitive Methodist)

808

8 September 1909

Daniel William Double
Annie Jane Billings

Daniel William Double
Annie Jane Billings
💍 1909/3948

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

29
20

Geraldine
Geraldine

3 days
20 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Geraldine

09/5279

Peter Billings, Father

8 September 1909

Rev. George H. Mann (Primitive Methodist)

No	808
Date of Notice	8 September 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Daniel William Double	Annie Jane Billings
	💍 1909/3948
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	29	20
Dwelling Place	Geraldine	Geraldine
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Geraldine
Folio	09/5279
Consent	Peter Billings, Father
Date of Certificate	8 September 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. George H. Mann (Primitive Methodist)

809

17 September 1909

John McCarten
Rose Burrows

John McCarten
Rose Burrows
💍 1909/3946

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic Duties

27
21

Arundel, Rangitata
Arundel, Rangitata

3 days
3 days

Registrar's Office, Geraldine

09/5277

17 September 1909

A. Andrews, Registrar

No	809
Date of Notice	17 September 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McCarten	Rose Burrows
	💍 1909/3946
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic Duties
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Arundel, Rangitata	Arundel, Rangitata
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Geraldine
Folio	09/5277
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 September 1909
Officiating Minister	A. Andrews, Registrar

810

22 September 1909

John Wilson
Olive Jane Treeby

John Wilson
Alice Jane Treeby
💍 1909/3943

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith
Domestic Duties

27
30

Orari
Orari

3 days
3 weeks

Church of Holy Trinity, Orari

09/5275

22 September 1909

Rev. Staples Hamilton (Church of England)

No	810
Date of Notice	22 September 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Wilson	Olive Jane Treeby
BDM Match (94%)	John Wilson	Alice Jane Treeby
	💍 1909/3943
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith	Domestic Duties
Age	27	30
Dwelling Place	Orari	Orari
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Church of Holy Trinity, Orari
Folio	09/5275
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 September 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).