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 280

District of Timaru Quarter ending 30 September 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

3 July 1909

William Smallridge
Ettie Hanson

William Smallridge
Ettie Hanson
💍 1909/4004

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

23 years
19 years

Timaru
Timaru

19 years
19 years

Dwellinghouse of Samuel R. Hanson, Stafford St, Timaru

09/5339

Samuel R. Hanson (Father)

3 July 1909

Rev. A. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

No	63
Date of Notice	3 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Smallridge	Ettie Hanson
	💍 1909/4004
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	23 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	19 years	19 years
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Samuel R. Hanson, Stafford St, Timaru
Folio	09/5339
Consent	Samuel R. Hanson (Father)
Date of Certificate	3 July 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. A. E. Hunt, Congregational Minister

3 July 1909

Henry James Banfield
Emma Wellman

Henry James Banfield
Emma Wellman
💍 1909/3971

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker
Dressmaker

24 years
23 years

Timaru
Timaru

2 months
3 weeks

Registrar's Office, Timaru

09/5329

3 July 1909

Alex. Montgomery, Registrar

No	64
Date of Notice	3 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry James Banfield	Emma Wellman
	💍 1909/3971
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker	Dressmaker
Age	24 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	2 months	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Timaru
Folio	09/5329
Consent
Date of Certificate	3 July 1909
Officiating Minister	Alex. Montgomery, Registrar

5 July 1909

John Miller
Olga Jessie Zlatana

John Miller
Olga Jessie Zlatano
💍 1909/3967

Bachelor
Spinster

Builder
School Teacher

26 years
25 years

Timaru
Timaru

5 years
3 weeks

Dwellinghouse of Wm. Miller, Cain St, Timaru

09/5326

5 July 1909

Rev. Thos. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

No	65
Date of Notice	5 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Miller	Olga Jessie Zlatana
BDM Match (97%)	John Miller	Olga Jessie Zlatano
	💍 1909/3967
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Builder	School Teacher
Age	26 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	5 years	3 weeks
Marriage Place	Dwellinghouse of Wm. Miller, Cain St, Timaru
Folio	09/5326
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Thos. Stinson, Presbyterian Minister

5 July 1909

John Victor McKeague
Daisy Blackmore

John Victor McKeague
Cissy Blackmore
💍 1909/3968

Bachelor
Spinster

Postal Officer
Domestic Duties

22 years
25 years

Timaru
Timaru

3 years
20 years

Residence of Mrs. Blackmore, 57 Maori Hill, Timaru

09/5327

5 July 1909

Rev. Wm. Baumber, Wesleyan Minister

No	66
Date of Notice	5 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Victor McKeague	Daisy Blackmore
BDM Match (90%)	John Victor McKeague	Cissy Blackmore
	💍 1909/3968
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Postal Officer	Domestic Duties
Age	22 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	3 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs. Blackmore, 57 Maori Hill, Timaru
Folio	09/5327
Consent
Date of Certificate	5 July 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. Wm. Baumber, Wesleyan Minister

4 July 1909

John Daly
Louisa Ethel Allen

John Daly
Louisa Ethel Allen
💍 1909/4003

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer
Domestic Duties

24 years
18 years

Timaru
Winslow

3 weeks
About 4 years

Roman Catholic Church, Timaru

09/5338

Dugald Allen (Father)

4 July 1909

Rev. John Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

No	67
Date of Notice	4 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Daly	Louisa Ethel Allen
	💍 1909/4003
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer	Domestic Duties
Age	24 years	18 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Winslow
Length of Residence	3 weeks	About 4 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Timaru
Folio	09/5338
Consent	Dugald Allen (Father)
Date of Certificate	4 July 1909
Officiating Minister	Rev. John Tubman, Roman Catholic Priest

10 July 1909

Stanley Wood
Violet Bessie Smith

Stanley Wood
Violet Bessie Smith
💍 1909/3963

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer
Domestic Duties

39 years
25 years

Timaru
Timaru

12 months
9 years

St. Mary's English Church, Timaru

09/5322

10 July 1909

Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

No	68
Date of Notice	10 July 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Stanley Wood	Violet Bessie Smith
	💍 1909/3963
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer	Domestic Duties
Age	39 years	25 years
Dwelling Place	Timaru	Timaru
Length of Residence	12 months	9 years
Marriage Place	St. Mary's English Church, Timaru
Folio	09/5322
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 July 1909
Officiating Minister	Archdeacon H. W. Harper, Church of England Clergyman

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).