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 273

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 June 1909 Registrar Alexander Montgomery

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

1 April 1909

Henry Dean
Mary Eager

Henry Dean
Mary Myer
💍 1909/2370

Bachelor
Spinster

Gardener
Domestic duties

24 years
15 years

Timaru
Timaru

18 months
10 years

Registrar's Office Timaru

09/3326

Henry Harman, Father

1 April 1909

Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

No	29
Date of Notice	1 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Dean	Mary Eager
BDM Match (85%)	Henry Dean	Mary Myer
	💍 1909/2370
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gardener	Domestic duties
Age	24 years	15 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	18 months	10 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Timaru
Folio	09/3326
Consent	Henry Harman, Father
Date of Certificate	1 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

3 April 1909

Peter Campbell
Fanny Brunton

Peter Campbell
Fanny Brunton
💍 1909/2435

Bachelor
Spinster

Produce Merchant
Dressmaker

32 years
26 years

Timaru
Otaio

2 years
3 months

Dwellinghouse of Robert R. Brunton, Otaio

09/3717

3 April 1909

Rev. J. H. G. Chapple, Presbyterian Minister

No	30
Date of Notice	3 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Peter Campbell	Fanny Brunton
	💍 1909/2435
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Produce Merchant	Dressmaker
Age	32 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Otaio
Length of Residence	2 years	3 months
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Robert R. Brunton, Otaio
Folio	09/3717
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. H. G. Chapple, Presbyterian Minister

5 April 1909

Henry Elms
Mary Elizabeth Carson

Henry Elms
Mary Elizabeth Carson
💍 1909/2336

Bachelor
Widow

Labourer
Nurse

35 years
30 years

Timaru
Timaru

4 days
4 days

Dwellinghouse of Rev. Thos. Stinson, Russell Square

09/3315

5 April 1909

Rev. Thos. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	31
Date of Notice	5 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Elms	Mary Elizabeth Carson
	💍 1909/2336
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Nurse
Age	35 years	30 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	4 days	4 days
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Rev. Thos. Stinson, Russell Square
Folio	09/3315
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

5 April 1909

Herbert Goliath Segar
Alice Mary Lamont

Herbert Goliath Syar
Alice May Lamont
💍 1909/3771

Bachelor
Spinster

Gunsmithe
Domestic Duties

23 years
21 years

Timaru
Timaru

23 years
21 years

Dwellinghouse of Mrs. Lamont, 5 Hugh St., Timaru

09/5095

5 April 1909

Rev. L. Buchanan, Independent Free Church Minister

No	32
Date of Notice	5 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Goliath Segar	Alice Mary Lamont
BDM Match (92%)	Herbert Goliath Syar	Alice May Lamont
	💍 1909/3771
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Gunsmithe	Domestic Duties
Age	23 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	23 years	21 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Mrs. Lamont, 5 Hugh St., Timaru
Folio	09/5095
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. L. Buchanan, Independent Free Church Minister

5 April 1909

Reuben Cooper
Elizabeth Gibson

Reuben Cooper
Elizabeth Gibson
💍 1909/2351

Widower
Widow

Labourer
Household duties

59 years
60 years

Timaru
Timaru

15 months
12 months

Dwellinghouse of Rev. J. Ulphert, Arthur Street, Timaru

09/3331

5 April 1909

Rev. J. Ulphert, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	33
Date of Notice	5 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reuben Cooper	Elizabeth Gibson
	💍 1909/2351
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Labourer	Household duties
Age	59 years	60 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	15 months	12 months
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Rev. J. Ulphert, Arthur Street, Timaru
Folio	09/3331
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Ulphert, Primitive Methodist Minister

5 April 1909

Thomas George Jacobs
Margaret Agnes Ingle

Thomas George Jacobs
Margaret Agnes Meikle
💍 1909/2371

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic duties

27 years
22 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 months
2 months

Registrar's Office, Timaru

09/3327

5 April 1909

Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

No	34
Date of Notice	5 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas George Jacobs	Margaret Agnes Ingle
BDM Match (91%)	Thomas George Jacobs	Margaret Agnes Meikle
	💍 1909/2371
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic duties
Age	27 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 months	2 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	09/3327
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Alexander Montgomery, Registrar

5 April 1909

William Heary
Annie Boyce

William Haines
Caroline Boyce
💍 1909/6597

Bachelor
Spinster

Locomotive Fireman, Railways
Tailoress

24 years
26 years

Timaru
Timaru

19 years
6 years

Presbyterian Church, Timaru

09/3341

5 April 1909

Rev. Thos. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	35
Date of Notice	5 April 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Heary	Annie Boyce
BDM Match (61%)	William Haines	Caroline Boyce
	💍 1909/6597
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Locomotive Fireman, Railways	Tailoress
Age	24 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	19 years	6 years
Marriage Place	Presbyterian Church, Timaru
Folio	09/3341
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 April 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

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).