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 229

District of Pleasant Point Quarter ending 30 June 1909 Registrar H. Brown

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

8 April 1909

Hamilton Maxwell
Charlotte Collett

Hamilton Maxwell
Charlotte Ann Collett
💍 1909/2139

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

25
33

Pleasant Point
Pleasant Point

2 years
33 years

St. Andrew's College, Private Residence, Pleasant Point

09/3291

8 April 1909

Rev. J. Shinson

No	20
Date of Notice	8 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hamilton Maxwell	Charlotte Collett
BDM Match (91%)	Hamilton Maxwell	Charlotte Ann Collett
	💍 1909/2139
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	25	33
Dwelling Place	Pleasant Point	Pleasant Point
Length of Residence	2 years	33 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's College, Private Residence, Pleasant Point
Folio	09/3291
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Shinson

19 April 1909

Michael Driscoll
Mary Connell

Michael Driscoll
Mary Scannell
💍 1909/6219

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

26
27

Kerrytown
Kerrytown

26 years
27 years

Roman Catholic Church, Kerrytown

09/7528

19 April 1909

Rev. Father H. Floc

No	21
Date of Notice	19 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Michael Driscoll	Mary Connell
BDM Match (88%)	Michael Driscoll	Mary Scannell
	💍 1909/6219
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	26	27
Dwelling Place	Kerrytown	Kerrytown
Length of Residence	26 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Kerrytown
Folio	09/7528
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father H. Floc

27 April 1909

Thomas Edward Pearson
Grace Mitchell

Thomas Edward Pearson
Grace Mitchell
💍 1909/2140

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

33
33

Pleasant Point
Pleasant Point

3 days
20 years

Private Residence of John Mitchell, Pleasant Point

09/3292

27 April 1909

Rev. J. S. Kirby

No	22
Date of Notice	27 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Edward Pearson	Grace Mitchell
	💍 1909/2140
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	33	33
Dwelling Place	Pleasant Point	Pleasant Point
Length of Residence	3 days	20 years
Marriage Place	Private Residence of John Mitchell, Pleasant Point
Folio	09/3292
Consent
Date of Certificate	27 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. S. Kirby

14 May 1909

James McCaw
Fanny Davidson Johnson

James McCort
Fanny Hairsine Johnson
💍 1909/6220

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Domestic

47
33

Albury
Albury

10 years
1 year

Registrar's Office, Pleasant Point

09/7529

14 May 1909

H. Brown, Registrar

No	23
Date of Notice	14 May 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James McCaw	Fanny Davidson Johnson
BDM Match (76%)	James McCort	Fanny Hairsine Johnson
	💍 1909/6220
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	47	33
Dwelling Place	Albury	Albury
Length of Residence	10 years	1 year
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Pleasant Point
Folio	09/7529
Consent
Date of Certificate	14 May 1909
Officiating Minister	H. Brown, Registrar

16 June 1909

Harry Llewellyn Sharp
Rose Philena Stevenson

Harry Llewellyn Shaab
Rose Delma Stevenson
💍 1909/3768

Bachelor
Spinster

Mill Employee
Domestic

29
30

Pleasant Point
Pleasant Point

3 days
2 years

Roman Catholic Church, Pleasant Point

09/5092

16 June 1909

Rev. Father H. Floc

No	24
Date of Notice	16 June 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Harry Llewellyn Sharp	Rose Philena Stevenson
BDM Match (84%)	Harry Llewellyn Shaab	Rose Delma Stevenson
	💍 1909/3768
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Mill Employee	Domestic
Age	29	30
Dwelling Place	Pleasant Point	Pleasant Point
Length of Residence	3 days	2 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Pleasant Point
Folio	09/5092
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 June 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father H. Floc

21 June 1909

Octavian Anton Marious Randrup
Catherine Veronica Teahen

Octaviay Anton Marious Randrup
Catherine Veronica Teahey
💍 1909/6198

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

28
21

Pleasant Point
Pleasant Point

3 days
3 years

Roman Catholic Church, Pleasant Point

09/7530

21 June 1909

Rev. Father J. S. Kirby

No	25
Date of Notice	21 June 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Octavian Anton Marious Randrup	Catherine Veronica Teahen
BDM Match (96%)	Octaviay Anton Marious Randrup	Catherine Veronica Teahey
	💍 1909/6198
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Pleasant Point	Pleasant Point
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Pleasant Point
Folio	09/7530
Consent
Date of Certificate	21 June 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father J. S. Kirby

28 June 1909

John Lapish Macdonald
Margaret Gibson

Thomas Matheson
Margaret Gibson
💍 1909/6701

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

27
25

Albury
Fairlie

12 years
6 years

Roman Catholic Church, Albury

09/5097

28 June 1909

Rev. Father J. S. Reidy

No	26
Date of Notice	28 June 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Lapish Macdonald	Margaret Gibson
BDM Match (64%)	Thomas Matheson	Margaret Gibson
	💍 1909/6701
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	27	25
Dwelling Place	Albury	Fairlie
Length of Residence	12 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Albury
Folio	09/5097
Consent
Date of Certificate	28 June 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Father J. S. Reidy

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).