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 393

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1909 Registrar Henry Maxwell

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

11 January 1909

James John Jones
Mary Rankin

James John Jones
Mary Rankin
💍 1909/3996

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker

27
31

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
25 years

In St Matthews Church, Dunedin

09/5354

11 January 1909

Wm Curzon-Siggers

No	15
Date of Notice	11 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James John Jones	Mary Rankin
	💍 1909/3996
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker
Age	27	31
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	25 years
Marriage Place	In St Matthews Church, Dunedin
Folio	09/5354
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Wm Curzon-Siggers

11 January 1909

Hugh Jackson
Maria Swan

Hugh Jackson
Maria Swan
💍 1909/6712

Widower
Widow

Bootmaker

70
33

Dunedin
Dunedin

37 years
20 years

In the house of Rev. G. Steighway, 337 George Street, Dunedin

09/1439

11 January 1909

G. Steighway

No	16
Date of Notice	11 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Jackson	Maria Swan
	💍 1909/6712
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	70	33
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	37 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Rev. G. Steighway, 337 George Street, Dunedin
Folio	09/1439
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1909
Officiating Minister	G. Steighway

11 January 1909

William Irwin Wallace
Jane Buchanan Miller

William Irwin Wallace
Jane Buchanan Miller
💍 1909/7217

Widower
Spinster

Farmer

37
27

Roslyn
Roslyn

3 days
3 years

In the house of Mr. A. Miller, Wakari Roslyn

09/1573

11 January 1909

P. R. M. Sutherland

No	17
Date of Notice	11 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Irwin Wallace	Jane Buchanan Miller
	💍 1909/7217
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	37	27
Dwelling Place	Roslyn	Roslyn
Length of Residence	3 days	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. A. Miller, Wakari Roslyn
Folio	09/1573
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1909
Officiating Minister	P. R. M. Sutherland

12 January 1909

John Warner
Christina Johnston

John Warner
Christina Johnston
💍 1909/7322

Bachelor
Spinster

Cycle Mechanic

24
23

Mornington
Mornington

3 days
23 years

In the Presbyterian Church, Mornington

09/1604

12 January 1909

W. Scorgie

No	18
Date of Notice	12 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Warner	Christina Johnston
	💍 1909/7322
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cycle Mechanic
Age	24	23
Dwelling Place	Mornington	Mornington
Length of Residence	3 days	23 years
Marriage Place	In the Presbyterian Church, Mornington
Folio	09/1604
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1909
Officiating Minister	W. Scorgie

12 January 1909

William George Buckley
Jennett Ada Ayers

William George Buckley
Jennett Ada Ayers
💍 1909/3997

Bachelor
Spinster

Cordial Maker

21
18

Dunedin
Dunedin

15 days
18 years

In the house of Mr. R. Farmer, 125 Castle Street, Dunedin

09/5355

Robert Farmer, guardian

12 January 1909

M. Howard

No	19
Date of Notice	12 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William George Buckley	Jennett Ada Ayers
	💍 1909/3997
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Cordial Maker
Age	21	18
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	15 days	18 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr. R. Farmer, 125 Castle Street, Dunedin
Folio	09/5355
Consent	Robert Farmer, guardian
Date of Certificate	12 January 1909
Officiating Minister	M. Howard

12 January 1909

David Edmond Nicol
Lavinia Ann Nicol

David Edmond
Lavinia Ann Nicol
💍 1909/7293

Widower
Spinster

Retired

72
43

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 days
43 years

In the house of Miss L. A. Nicol, 16 William Street, Dunedin

09/1650

12 January 1909

W. Scorgie

No	20
Date of Notice	12 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	David Edmond Nicol	Lavinia Ann Nicol
BDM Match (83%)	David Edmond	Lavinia Ann Nicol
	💍 1909/7293
Condition	Widower	Spinster
Profession	Retired
Age	72	43
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 days	43 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Miss L. A. Nicol, 16 William Street, Dunedin
Folio	09/1650
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 January 1909
Officiating Minister	W. Scorgie

13 January 1909

John McDonald
Maggie Cox Lindsay Proctor

John McDonald
Maggie Con Lindsay Prictor
💍 1909/6140

John McDonald
Jessie Wilson
💍 1910/1600

Bachelor
Divorced

Merchant

43
33

Dunedin
Dunedin

18 years
33 years

In St Stephens Church, Dunedin

09/1574

13 January 1909

D. K. McIntyre

No	21
Date of Notice	13 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John McDonald	Maggie Cox Lindsay Proctor
BDM Match (96%)	John McDonald	Maggie Con Lindsay Prictor
	💍 1909/6140
BDM Match (62%)	John McDonald	Jessie Wilson
	💍 1910/1600
Condition	Bachelor	Divorced
Profession	Merchant
Age	43	33
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	18 years	33 years
Marriage Place	In St Stephens Church, Dunedin
Folio	09/1574
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 January 1909
Officiating Minister	D. K. McIntyre

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).