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 395

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

18 January 1909

Reginald Cyrus Rich
Ellen Crowe

Reginald Cyrus Rich
Ellen Crowe
💍 1909/64

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

43 years
35 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

4 months
4 days

In St. John's Church Roslyn

09/1557

18 January 1909

H. W. L. Snow

No	29
Date of Notice	18 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Reginald Cyrus Rich	Ellen Crowe
	💍 1909/64
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	43 years	35 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	4 months	4 days
Marriage Place	In St. John's Church Roslyn
Folio	09/1557
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1909
Officiating Minister	H. W. L. Snow

18 January 1909

William Mackinnon
Jessie Muir Veitch

William Mackinnon
Jessie Muir Veitch
💍 1909/6767

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmoulder
Mantle maker

31 years
31 years

South Dunedin
South Dunedin

2 years
20 years

In the house of Mr J Veitch 8 Waverley Street South Dunedin

09/1679

18 January 1909

D. Dutton

No	30
Date of Notice	18 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Mackinnon	Jessie Muir Veitch
	💍 1909/6767
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmoulder	Mantle maker
Age	31 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	South Dunedin	South Dunedin
Length of Residence	2 years	20 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr J Veitch 8 Waverley Street South Dunedin
Folio	09/1679
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1909
Officiating Minister	D. Dutton

18 January 1909

John Jackson Smith
Elizabeth Tripp

John Jackson Smith
Elizabeth Tripp
💍 1909/6787

Widower
Widow

Foreman

45 years
45 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

1 year
3 years

In the house of the Rev J. K. McIntyre 375 Cumberland St Dunedin

09/1573

18 January 1909

J. K. McIntyre

No	31
Date of Notice	18 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Jackson Smith	Elizabeth Tripp
	💍 1909/6787
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Foreman
Age	45 years	45 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	1 year	3 years
Marriage Place	In the house of the Rev J. K. McIntyre 375 Cumberland St Dunedin
Folio	09/1573
Consent
Date of Certificate	18 January 1909
Officiating Minister	J. K. McIntyre

19 January 1909

Arthur George Parker
Robina Barbara Agnes Paterson

Arthur George Parker
Robina Barbara Agnes Paterson
💍 1909/7198

Bachelor
Spinster

Joiner

21 years
19 years

St Kilda
Dunedin

21 years
3 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

09/1487

James Anthony Paterson Father

19 January 1909

H Maxwell

No	32
Date of Notice	19 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur George Parker	Robina Barbara Agnes Paterson
	💍 1909/7198
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Joiner
Age	21 years	19 years
Dwelling Place	St Kilda	Dunedin
Length of Residence	21 years	3 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	09/1487
Consent	James Anthony Paterson Father
Date of Certificate	19 January 1909
Officiating Minister	H Maxwell

19 January 1909

Lawrence Thompson
Marion Beatrice Thomson

Laurence Thompson
Marion Beatrice Thomson
💍 1909/7328

Bachelor
Spinster

Clergyman
School Teacher

40 years
31 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 months
1 month

In the house of Mr W. Thomson 80 Dowling Street Dunedin

09/1412

19 January 1909

Wm Hewitson

No	33
Date of Notice	19 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Lawrence Thompson	Marion Beatrice Thomson
BDM Match (97%)	Laurence Thompson	Marion Beatrice Thomson
	💍 1909/7328
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clergyman	School Teacher
Age	40 years	31 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 months	1 month
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr W. Thomson 80 Dowling Street Dunedin
Folio	09/1412
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1909
Officiating Minister	Wm Hewitson

19 January 1909

James Donaldson
Martha Ann Hill

James Donaldson
Martha Ann Hill
💍 1909/6725

Bachelor
Widow

Carter
Fruiterer

31 years
34 years

Dunedin
Maori Hill

12 months
2 years

In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin

09/1488

19 January 1909

H Maxwell

No	34
Date of Notice	19 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Donaldson	Martha Ann Hill
	💍 1909/6725
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Carter	Fruiterer
Age	31 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Maori Hill
Length of Residence	12 months	2 years
Marriage Place	In the office of the Registrar of Marriages Dunedin
Folio	09/1488
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 January 1909
Officiating Minister	H Maxwell

20 January 1909

Murray Donald Munro
Mary Ann Riley

Murray Donald Munro
Mary Ann Riley
💍 1909/6601

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

24 years
34 years

Caversham
Dunedin

22 years
3 days

In the house of Mr Th. Munro Johnsthampton Court Caversham

09/7694

20 January 1909

R. Waddell

No	35
Date of Notice	20 January 1909
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Murray Donald Munro	Mary Ann Riley
	💍 1909/6601
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	24 years	34 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Dunedin
Length of Residence	22 years	3 days
Marriage Place	In the house of Mr Th. Munro Johnsthampton Court Caversham
Folio	09/7694
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 January 1909
Officiating Minister	R. Waddell

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).